[pete_72]

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/7318166.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...ng/7318166.stm</a><br><br>
2 years since being world champion at rowing she scoops a cycling WC.<br><br>
is this unique? can anyone think of examples that are similar?

 

[Tithers]

I think Ella should go bike racing now!

 

[ForceD]

American Eric Heiden. Won five gold medals in speed skating at the 1980 Lake Placid games. Then, he crossed over to cycling. Rode with the 7-11 Team in the 1986 Tour de France (however, crashed and DNF). He won the first US Professional Cycling Championship and thus became the American road race champion. In 1999, he was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame. He later became a doctor and served as team doctor for two different NBA teams.<br><br>
Dan

 

[RunningForT3]

Mihai Leu, was a World Rally Champs driver... not a world champ but won races. He quit and won a boxing world title.

 

[TriAndStopMe]

Eric Heiden was my first thought, too. In a different era Babe Didrikson Zaharias won Olympic Gold in track & field, All American in Basketball, and then took up golf late in life to become a world-class champion at that sport, too. (Lots of other feats along the way.)<br><br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Didrikson_Zaharias" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Didrikson_Zaharias</a><br><br>
Still, amazingly impressive to make that big of a shift so quickly!

 

[kristine25]

OK, Eric Heiden but...going from rowing (all uppper body!) to cycling I think is more impressive. Actually, anyone competing at that level in any two sports is amazing!

 

[RunningForT3]

And what about Jim Thorpe? Played college football, then won Olympic gold in pentathlon and decathlon, then played pro baseball (for NY Giants) and later pro football.

 

[pete_72]

rowing is an all-body work out, not just upper-body. Agree in one sense (in that i don't think you could make a cycling to rowing switch without the years of upper body development; but I suspect the leg work involved in rowing makes the rowing to cycling switch relatively less of a stretch).<br>
interesting how the Eric Heiden example also ends up with the cycling. It's like cycling is all about leg strength and fitness and technically it doesn't matter if you don't have a background in the sport.

 

[dragonsrouges]

I`m no olympic rower but I don`t think rowing is ALL upper body at all...!<br><br>
The speedskating-cycing combo is very popular... skating and cycling use the leg muscles in a very similar proportion. As a varsity hockey player in college, we used to cycle (stationary that is) a lot for cross-training.<br><br>
Though speedskating is highly technical, more than cycling.<br><br>
My marathon swimmer friend (qualified for the past few years for the World Cup) also rowed varsity-level, was on the junior national team (elite) for triathlon. I think it`s a matter of if you have it, you have it. And can tranfer it to many other different sports.

 

[Ella]

Okay. Anyone want to buy me a bike?<img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif">

 

[Tithers]

Mikey is lonely these days...

 

[Ella]

Send him over!!

 

[Tithers]

Hows about you come to the states, stay at my house and I'll let you play with him here! Then we can rent a boat and row in the lake or something.

 

[Ella]

Much as I'd love to - if I can't afford my own bike, how am I supposed to afford to come over there??<img alt="sad.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/sad.gif"> Although I must admit to being very close on several occasions to spending all the money saved up for a car on a ticket to anywhere but here!!<br><br>
Ella <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif">

 

[Tithers]

Ella must start investing in lotto tickets.<br><br>
Tithers HEARTS Ella!