Sydor, 46, is known as both a mountain biker and a road cyclist. Her accolades include a silver medal in MTB cross-country at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta; a bronze in the road race at the 1991 UCI Road Worlds in Stuttgart, Germany; three individual World MTB Championship gold medals (Vail, CO, 1994; Kirchzarten, Germany, 1995; and in Cairns, Aus, 1996); she also has a team relay gold medal from 2002 (Kaprun, Austria).
Sydor won three World Cup MTB Series overall titles and claimed 17 World Cup (cross-country) race victories during her career. For 13 consecutive years (1992-2004) she always finished among the top-5 at the world championships.
She’s the only Canadian rider to win all three national championship titles for MTB, road, and cyclocross.
Previous awards and distinctions that Sydor has garnered include the Velma Springstead Trophy as Canada’s top female athlete (1995, 1996), the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame (2007), and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame (2008).
The induction ceremony will be held in Toronto on October 16.
Alison Sydor Wikipedia page HERE.
Cycling Canada Ccongratulates Alison Sydor, to be inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
(Ottawa, ON – April 11, 2013) Cycling Canada would like to congratulate former national team member Alison Sydor, a mountain biker who will be inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2013 at the Hall of Fame Celebrations ceremony to be held in Toronto on October 16th.
Sydor, born in Edmonton, AB who now lives in Victoria, British Columbia, represented Canada at three Olympic Games, winning the silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, becoming the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in Mountain Bike.
“We congratulate an outstanding athlete who has blazed the trail and inspired a whole new generation of women cyclists. Today, thanks in part to the outstanding work done by Alison Sydor, Canada’s Mountain Bike program is known to be a powerful threat at any international competition,” said Greg Mathieu, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General of Cycling Canada.
“The induction into the Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is an extraordinary accomplishment deserving our most sincere recognition. We take this opportunity to congratulate all inductees that have pioneered and promoted Canadian Sports.”
Sydor is a 3-time UCI World Champion [1994, 1995, 1996) with a total of 11 World Championships medals, in both mountain bike and road cycling. Prior to her mountain bike career, Sydor won the bronze medal at the 1991 UCI Road World Championships.
In other major international events, Sydor won three medals, including two gold medals at Pan-American Games (1995, 2003) and two medals at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
Sydor was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, and into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2007. For two consecutive years, 1995 and 1996, Sydor received the prestigious Velma Sprinstead Trophy awarded to Canada’s top female athlete.
The announcement was made today by Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.