Shane Perkins (; born 30 December 1986) is an Australian and Russian (since 17 August 2017) professional track cyclist.
Biography Early life Perkins was born in Melbourne, the son of Daryl Perkins. As a youngster, Perkins played cricket, football and basketball. He played basketball at a very high level aged 7 to 14, but did not enjoy it enough to continue. Perkins rode BMX for a short while and began cycling aged 13 in 1999 with his father, who had himself been a successful cyclist.
His first cycling club was the Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club, and his first medal was won at the Victoria state championships at Northcote, it was a gold medal in the sprint event, where he beat friend and rival Michael Ford. Within three months of taking up cycling, he had qualified to compete at the U15 Australian National Championships in Sydney, there he won two gold medals and broke two Australian records in the process. He went on to win 11 further National Championship titles between then and 2006, and broke another two Australian records. He is an Australian Institute of Sport and Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.
2004: Junior World championships In Los Angeles in 2004, Perkins became the sprint and keirin junior World Champion. He tested positive for methamphetamine following the Keirin final on 29 July, his case was heard in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November 2004. The Court took into account extenuating circumstances, accepting that Perkins had used a stimulant inadvertently. A Cycling Australia statement said: "In America Perkins purchased a nasal inhaler of the same brand he regularly uses in Australia without realising it contained a different active ingredient, namely methamphetamine, which is on the banned list," Perkins' suspension ran for six months, from 16 November 2004.
Commonwealth Games Perkins was reselected to represent Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in his hometown, Melbourne. He won a bronze medal as part of Australia's team sprint squad, becoming the youngest ever Australian cyclist to win a Commonwealth Games medal. He then went on to represent his country and claim the gold medal in the Men's individual sprint event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. His 2010 Commonwealth Games were not completely successful, however, as he was disqualified from the semifinal of the men's keirin. Relegated to the 7-12 place race, he swore at the judges as he crossed the finishing line. He later apologised and withdrew from the men's team sprint. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he was part of the team that won the bronze medal in the men's team sprint.
London 2012 Perkins qualified for the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Perkins competed in the Men's Sprint, Men's Keirin, and Men's Team Sprint. He was part of the Australian sprint team that finished 4th, finished 5th in the keirin but won the bronze medal in the individual sprint.
Since 2015: Out of Australian team and acquirement of the Russian citizenship, first European medal Since 2015, Perkins was not considered to be a candidate to the Australian international team, in particular, he missed the 2016 Summer Olympics. On 15 February 2017, it was announced that Perkins was in the process of acquiring Russian citizenship with the goal to race for the Russian team at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
In August 2017, Perkins was granted Russian citizenship. At the national championships, Perkins won gold with the Moscow team. He then won bronze in the individual sprint event, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Pavel Yakushevskiy. He beat Alexey Tkachev in the bronze medal match. Perkins later also won gold in the keirin discipline.
Perkins debuted at the European Championships in Berlin, Germany. He participated in the team sprint and keirin event. His team consisting of Pavel Yakushevskiy and Denis Dmitriev took the fourth place after losing the bronze medal race to the Dutch. In the keirin event, Perkins won his first European silver medal, losing only to the German Maximilian Levy.
After 2017 The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were delayed by one year and took place in 2021, with heavy restrictions on participation of Russian athletes. By that time, Perkins lost interest in competitive cycling and, together with his wife Kristine, took up bodybuilding.
Personal life In February 2008, tension was brewing between Perkins and his rival for Olympic selection, Ryan Bayley. Both were deemed by the judges to be riding improperly at the Australian National Track Championships. Bayley crashed when Perkins moved down on him during a race, burning a hole in the back of his skinsuit. The relationship between the two riders was given another dimension, when Perkins announced his engagement to Bayley's younger sister, Kristine Bayley.
Perkins and Kristine Bayley had a son, Aidan, in October 2008. They were married in November 2009.
During 2018 Six Days of Berlin, his father Daryl Perkins who flew to watch him race was infected with Meningococcal meningitis, which could cause permanent disabilities or death. A GoFundMe fundraising campaign organized by Six Day Series exceeded target of 20,000 euros under support of German public. His father was treated in Germany for 6 weeks and then returned to Australia for further recovery. He was grateful of the reception and decided to race again in 2019 Six Days of Berlin.
As of 2022, Perkins and his family were living in Perth. He was running a bodybuilding training center together with Kristine.
Major results
2003 1st Kilo, Australian National Track Championships, Juniors 1st Sprint, Australian National Track Championships, Juniors
2004 1st Keirin, World Championships, Juniors 3rd Team Sprint, World Championships, Juniors 1st Sprint, World Championships, Juniors 2nd Kilo, Australian National Track Championships, Juniors 1st Sprint, Australian National Track Championships, Juniors
2006 3rd Team Sprint, World Cup, Los Angeles 3rd Team Sprint, Australian National Track Championships 2nd Keirin, Australian National Track Championships 3rd Team Sprint, Commonwealth Games 3rd Team Sprint, World Championships (with Ryan Bayley & Shane Kelly) 3rd Sprint, Oceania Games, Melbourne 1st Team Sprint, Oceania Games, Melbourne (with Scott Sunderland & Joel Leonard)
2007 3rd Keirin, World Cup, Los Angeles 3rd Sprint, Australian National Track Championships 1st Team Sprint, Australian National Track Championships (with Mark French & Joel Leonard) 2nd Keirin, Australian National Track Championships 1st Keirin, World Cup, Manchester 3rd Team Sprint, World Cup, Manchester 2nd Sprint, Oceania Championships, Invercargill 3rd Keirin, Oceania Championships, Invercargill
2008 3rd Sprint, Australian National Track Championships 1st Team Sprint, Australian National Track Championships (with Mark French & Shane Kelly) 2nd Sprint, World Cup, Manchester 1st Sprint, World Cup, Melbourne
2009 3rd Sprint, World Cup, Beijing 1st Keirin Oceania Championships AUS 1st Team Sprint Oceania Championships AUS 1st Keirin Australian Championships SA 1st Sprint Australian Championships SA 1st Team Sprint Australian Championships SA 1st Kilometre Time Trial Australian Championships SA 1st Austral Wheelrace VIC
2010 1st Sprint, Commonwealth Games
2011 1st Keirin, World Championships
2012 1st Team sprint, World Championships
2014 3rd Team sprint, Commonwealth Games
2017 1st Team sprint, Russian Track Cycling Championships 3rd Sprint, Russian Track Cycling Championships 1st Keirin, Russian Track Cycling Championships 2nd Keirin, European Championships
References
External links