From Major Taylor to Nelson Vails to Kirk Whiteman...

Photo and Stats courtesy of http://www.thekinglink.com/

Kirk Whiteman
Sport: Tandem Captain for Matt King since 2000
(USCF Category: Track 1 (elite)
Team: ICG Communications
Residence: Brooklyn, New York
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 190 lbs.
DOB: 10/12/65,
Education: New York Institute of Technology
Occupation: Spinning Instructor

About Kirk: In the fall of 1983, Kirk Whiteman, while flipping through channels, saw a native New Yorker named Nelson Vails win a gold medal at the Pan American Games in the sport of cycling. Captivated by the speed and power of these sprinters, Kirk, not long after, realized that cycling was his calling. Not knowing anything of the sport, Kirk did hear that Nelson Vails was a former NYC bike messenger turned pro bike racer. Whiteman, like Vails, started off by getting a messenger’s job in Manhattan, linked up with one of the best amateur cycling teams in the east, and he too has risen through the competitive ranks and has become a champion. Since 1990 Kirk has medaled at just about every National Championship he has entered.


In 1996, he won his first National Championship in the Tandem Sprints. A year later, he traded in the Stars and Stripes national jersey for the Rainbow colored jersey of a World Champion in the Individual Match Sprint Event at the Masters World Championship in Manchester, England. In 1998, Kirk successfully defended his individual match sprint world championship, he also set a world record and won a gold medal in the Olympic Sprint Event. Kirk’s reign as world champion has been more monumental than just winning.



In 1997, Kirk was the first African-American to win a world sprint title since Major Marshall Taylor in 1899. In 1998, Kirk became the first two time African-American winner of that title in the hundred plus years of cycling. Apart from a brilliant career in cycling, Kirk has been reaching out to the children and athletes in the community. He finds that there is a definite importance to teaching children that there is freedom in discipline when striving to attain their goals.



Competition Highlights:

2000 (as of August 20, 2000)
Colorado Tandem Invitational, Colorado Springs, Colo., placed first in the Men's Match Sprints
WFMZ Invitational, Trexlertown, Pa., placed first in the Men's Match Sprints
WE Media Tandem Invitational, Trexlertown, Pa., placed first in the Men's Match Sprints
Good Shephards Tandemonium at T-Town, Trexlertown, Pa., placed fourth in the Men's Match Sprints


Elite Track Championships, Frisco, Tex., placed first in the men’s USABA kilometer..made the 2000 Paralympic Cycling Team which will be going to Sydney, Australia, in October of 2000.
ICG/WE Media Track Series #1, Houston, Texas, placed first in the Men's Match Sprints


1999
Masters World Track Championships’, Manchester, England, placed fourth in the 200 meter time trial, fifth in the match sprint, and fifth in the Olympic Sprint
Masters National Track Championships’, Plano, Tex., placed second in the match sprints, and second in the Olympic Sprint


Senior National Track Championships’, Trexlertown, Pa., placed sixth in the 200 meter time trial, placed tenth in the match sprint, placed fourth in the Olympic Sprint, and third in the tandem sprint


New York State Track Championships’, Kissena, NY, won the match sprints, and won the Olympic Sprint

#2 EDS Cup, Plano, Tex., placed sixth in the match sprint, placed ninth in the keirin, and won six in the Olympic Sprint
Floyd Bennet Field Criterium, Brooklyn, NY won sixth place



1998
Masters World Track Championships', Manchester, England, won the match sprints and set a world record and won the Olympic Sprints Masters National Track Championships', Seattle, Wa., won the match sprints and placed second in the Senior National Track Championships’, Plano, Tex., placed tenth in the match sprint and placed sixth in the Olympic Sprint
Eastern Regional Championships’, Trexlertown, Pa., won the match sprints and won the keirin
New York State Track Championships’, Kissena, NY, won the match sprints


1997
Masters World Track Championships’, Manchester England, won the match sprint, won the 200 meter time trial, and placed third in the Olympic Sprint.
Masters National Track Championships’, Houston, Tex., placed second in the match sprint and placed third in the 200 meter time trial
Senior National Track Championships, Colorado Springs, Colo., placed third in the Tandem Sprints, placed sixth in the Olympic Sprint, placed third in the 200 meter time trial, and ninth in the match sprints International Grand Prix, Palesco, Trinidad, placed third in the Olympic Sprints and placed third in the one lap scratch New York State Track Championships', Kissena, NY, won the match sprints


1996
Senior National Tandem Sprint Champion, won Tandem Sprints