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Who were the last genuine amateurs to break world records or win Olympic medals

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    Who were the last genuine amateurs to break world records or win Olympic medals

    Roger Bannister RIP was a genuine amateur. Who was the last at his level

    #2
    Graeme Obree may not have been an amateur but he was one in spirit and the lack of support from his national federation in comparison to Boardman made him the last of the great individuals.

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      #3
      Obree was as close to an amateur as you could get for his achievements when him and Boardman were going at it in that glorious summer of 1993. He was basically doing everything off his own bat with a couple of low level sponsors covering expenses.

      Boardman was amateur in name only, he rode for North Wirral Velo (a specially created team featuring strong riders from Merseyside and the North West) who had funding from those well known small businesses Reebok and Kodak. He didn't have much support from the British Cycling Federation though, it was pre-velodrome, pre-lottery funding, pre-medal targets and they barely had a pot to piss in at the time - indeed it was often said his achievements were down to having the right people around him (Peter Keen, Peter Woodworth) rather than the system.

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        #4
        I love that Obree's home-made bicycle included parts from a washing machine, according to his Wiki. I just thought of several naff washing powder brand-based puns, but thought better of inflicting them on this thread.

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          #5
          Here's a recent world record set by an amateur, though given that the record is "youngest to achieve X" it kind of has to be an amateur:
          http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/43160815

          Still, mightily impressive.

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