How to Be a Loser and Win an Olympic Gold Medal in Cycling | Chris Boardman | TEDxManchester
In 1992, Chris Boardman shot to international fame when he won the Olympic Gold Medal for the 4km individual pursuit which was Great Britain’s first cycling medal since 1920. As a professional he won multiple stages of the Tour de France, the World Time Trial Championships and set the hour record atop his iconic Lotus bicycle.
Despite his trailblazing cycling career Chris stated that he didn’t believe he was unusually talented but that his gift was in being able to stretch and mould his given abilities to achieve extraordinary things. In this talk Chris discusses how his healthy embrace of ‘losing’ has actually been the foundation of his legendary success. Chris Boardman was appointed as National Active Travel Commissioner in June 2022 by the Transport Secretary.Before this Chris was Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester and the first ever Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Commissioner.A former professional cyclist, Chris won a gold medal in the individual pursuit at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Chris launched his own range of bikes, BOARDMAN Bikes, in 2007 and is the company’s chairman.Chris is also Chair of Sport England and a prominent broadcaster for BBC and ITV. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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