Seamus McGrath

Seamus McGrath
Personal information
Full nameSeamus Patrick McGrath
Born (1976-03-05) March 5, 1976 (age 48)
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight62 kg (137 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineMountain biking
RoleRider
Rider typeCross-country
Professional teams
1998Haro MTB Team
2000–2002Haro-Lee Dungaree
2007–2008Rocky Mountain-Haywood
Medal record
Men's mountain biking
Representing  Canada
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2002 Manchester Cross-country
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Melbourne Cross-country

Seamus Patrick McGrath (born March 5, 1976, in Mississauga, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional mountain biker.[1] Riding the sport for more than 15 years as a member of the Canadian national team, McGrath has won two medals in mountain biking at the Commonwealth Games (2002 and 2006), and later represented his nation Canada in two editions of the Olympic Games (2004 and 2008). Before retiring to focus on and organize the annual Tour de Victoria race in late 2008, McGrath also trained and raced professionally for Haro-Lee Dungaree and Fuji Bikes under an exclusive sponsorship contract.[2][3]

Growing up in Flamborough, Ontario, McGrath made his official debut at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, where he joined his teammate Roland Green to take the silver medal and climb on top of the podium for Canada with a spectacular 1–2 finish.[4]

When he first competed for Canada at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, McGrath scored a career-high, ninth place in the men's cross-country race with a time of 2:20:33, finishing just off the podium by a three-minute gap.[5][6] Two years later, McGrath continued to set another sterling record by picking up the bronze in the same tournament (2:13:43) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, trailing behind the British duo Liam Killeen and Oliver Beckingsale within a short riding distance.[7][8]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, McGrath qualified for his second Canadian squad, as a 32-year-old senior, in the men's cross-country race by receiving one of the nation's three available berths from the Canadian Cycling Association and the Union Cycliste Internationale, based on his best performance at the World Cup series, World Championships, and Mountain Biking World Series.[9] McGrath could not match a stellar performance from Athens, as he suffered a tyre puncture and then had to ride the rim all the way around the tech zone in order to replace the flat tyre. Realizing that his new wheel contained a slow leak at the designated site, McGrath decided to end his course with only three laps left and a forty-fourth-place finish.[10][11][12]

In 2013 disgraced cyclist Michael Rasmussen wrote a book titled Yellow Fever in which he claimed that Seamus McGrath along with two other Canadian mountain-bikers (Ryder Hesjedal [13] and Chris Sheppard [14]) travelled to Spain in 2003 so that Michael Rasmussen could show them how to use doping products properly.[15][16][17] In his book, Rasmussen writes that Seamus McGrath, Ryder Hesjedal and Chris Sheppard all received advice on doping from him; "A good result in the world championships [2003] could send them to the Olympics in Athens in 2004," Rasmussen wrote. "They moved into my basement in August, before I went to the Vuelta a Espana, and right after I had ridden the Meisterschaft von Zurich. There, they stayed around 14 days' time. I trained with them in the Dolomites and taught them how to [make] vitamin injections and how you took EPO and Synacthen [cortisone]."[18] Seamus confessed to using these doping products only for the period of time in which Michael Rasmussen claimed to have shown the three cyclists how to use the doping products.[19] In a statement in 2013 Seamus said, “When I became aware of doping in my early 20s, I made a promise to myself to commit to clean sport,” McGrath said in a statement. “I broke this promise to myself in 2003. I’d like to take this chance to apologize first and foremost to my parents who instilled in me strong morals and values, which I compromised for a brief period over a decade ago. I would also like to apologize to my family, friends, fans and sponsors who supported me during my career,” McGrath said, “along with my fellow competitors at the time. I disrespected the sport I love and am ashamed of my actions. I broke the rules of sportsmanship and went against what I knew to be right. For this, I will always be sorry."[20]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Seamus McGrath". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Tour organizers were inspiring". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia: Canada.com. 25 September 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Seamus McGrath Signs with Fuji". Velo News. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  4. ^ Leggat, David (31 July 2002). "Mountainbiking: Crash, bang and a silver". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Cycling: Men's Cross-Country Race". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Islander Kabush gets his ticket to Beijing Games". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia: Canada.com. 28 June 2008. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  7. ^ Majendie, Matt (23 March 2006). "Killeen secures gold for England". Melbourne: BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  8. ^ Chong, Jordan (23 March 2006). "England wins by a country mile". The Age. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  9. ^ "Four cyclists named Olympic nominees". The Calgary Herald. Calgary, Alberta: Canada.com. 28 June 2008. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  10. ^ "Men's Cross-Country Race". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  11. ^ ""Unbeatable" Absalon wins his second gold". Agence France-Presse. Velo News. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  12. ^ Jones, Rob (23 August 2008). "French dominate the rest of the World". Cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  13. ^ "Canadian cyclist Ryder Hesjedal admits to doping". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  14. ^ "Sheppard admits doping violation | Cyclingnews.com". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  15. ^ "Michael Rasmussen tells all in new book - Cycling Weekly". 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  16. ^ "Canadian Cyclist - Daily News". www.canadiancyclist.com. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  17. ^ "Rasmussen makes doping claims against Hesjedal, Sorensen, Høj and others". www.velonation.com. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  18. ^ "Canadian cyclist Ryder Hesjedal admits to doping". Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  19. ^ "Mountain biker Seamus McGrath confesses to doping - Canadian Cycling Magazine". 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  20. ^ "Mountain biker Seamus McGrath confesses to doping - Canadian Cycling Magazine". 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
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