By Rupinder Mohan Singh | SPORTS |
Alexi Singh Grewal is an American Sikh Olympic gold medalist and former professional road racing cyclist. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Grewal became the first American Sikh man to win an Olympic gold medal in road cycling.
It is interesting to note that the media at that time, did not highlight the fact that a Sikh of Indian origin, Alexi Singh Grewal won Gold medal in road cycling. He defeated the Canadian, Steve Bauer and covered the distance of 190.2 km to win the medal. A crowd of approximately 300,000 cheered the Indian-Sikh. He raced to a lead of 24 seconds , also the final lap was very exciting as Both Baur and Grewal were close to take lead over the other.
For Sikhs, like for many minorities, it is something significant to see one of their own competing at the highest of levels. It’s a source of inspiration and validation, allowing us to claim our space in our diasporic communities and also understanding that athletics can be an acceptable vocation for Sikh.
Alexi Singh Grewal is the first American sikh to take Gold in a road cycling event, and provided Sikhs with a high-profile introduction to Americans and the global cycling stage who had previously never heard of Sikhism.
In 2004 he was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame. – Source: Sikh Cycling Network Facebook page
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