Steven Burke

Steven Burke
Steven James Burke (born 4 March 1988) is a former English track and road cyclist, who rode for the now disbanded cycling team. He represented Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics, beating his pre Olympics personal best in the individual pursuit by eleven seconds, to take the bronze medal. He stood on the podium alongside his cycling idol, gold medallist Bradley Wiggins.
During 2012, Burke was part of the Great Britain team that won the Olympic and World Championships, in the Team Pursuit discipline. He was part of the GB Team, that retained the team pursuit title at the 2016 Olympics. Burke was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours on 29 December 2012, for services to cycling.
Early life
Burke was born in Burnley and lived in Colne, Lancashire during his early life, attending Park High School and later Nelson and Colne College (which named its sports centre after him). Born into a cycling family, both Burke’s grandfather Brian Wesson, and his mother Sharon, have competed at national level. His dad Alvin also was a cyclist and competed in many time trials.
He began attending Manchester Velodrome as a teenager, previously being more interested in football.
Career
Despite specialising in the team pursuit, Burke has an impressive turn of speed, demonstrated by his success as a junior in the scratch and kilo events. He was consistently beating Mark Cavendish in sprints, during training in 2007.
Major results
Track
2005
National Junior Championships
1st Kilo
3rd Points race
3rd Scratch
1st Team pursuit, UEC European Under-23 Championships
2nd Team pursuit, UCI World Junior Championships
2006
1st Team pursuit, UEC European Under-23 Championships
3rd Team pursuit, UCI World Junior Championships
2007
UEC European Under-23 Championships
1st Team pursuit
3rd Individual pursuit
National Championships
1st Scratch
1st Team pursuit
1st Individual pursuit, National Junior Championships
3rd Team pursuit, UCI World Cup Classics, Manchester
2008
National Championships
1st Individual pursuit
3rd Kilo
3rd Individual pursuit, Olympic Games
2009
1st Individual pursuit, UEC European Under-23 Championships
1st Kilo, National Championships
2011
1st Team pursuit, UEC European Championships
1st Individual pursuit, National Championships
2012
1st Team pursuit, Olympic Games
1st Team pursuit, UCI World Championships
2013
1st Team pursuit, UEC European Championships
2nd Team pursuit, UCI World Championships
2014
UCI World Cup
1st Team pursuit, London
2nd Team pursuit, Guadalajara
2nd Team pursuit, Commonwealth Games
2nd Individual pursuit, National Championships
2015
1st Team pursuit, UEC European Championships
3rd Kilo, National Championships
2016
1st Team pursuit, Olympic Games
World records
See also
2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics gold post boxes
References
External links
Motorpoint Pro-Cycling
Steven Burke, articles at Pendletoday.co.uk
British Cycling interview with Steven Burke, 23 July 2006
Living people
1988 births
British male cyclists
English male cyclists
English Olympic medallists
Olympic cyclists for Great Britain
Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain
Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Sportspeople from Burnley
People from Colne
Olympic medalists in cycling
UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men)
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England
Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling
English track cyclists
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games