Sarah Hammer

  
  


Sarah Hammer
Sarah Hammer

Date of Birth: August 18, 1983
Height: 5'7"/1.7m
Weight: 133 lbs./60 kg./9.5 st.
Place of Birth: Redondo Beach, California
Hometown: Temecula, California
Residence: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Teams: Performance United - FELT
Website: www.sarahhammer.us

Olympic Experience/UCI World Championships Results

  • 2014 UCI Track World Championships, Cali, Colombia (1st in Omnium; 2nd in Individual Pursuit)
  • 2013 UCI Track World Championships, Minsk, Belarus (1st in Individual Pursuit; 1st in Omnium; 17th in Scratch Race)
  • 2012 Olympic Games, London, England (2nd in Team Pursuit; 2nd in Omnium)
  • 2012 UCI Track World Championships, Melbourne, Australia (3rd in Omnium; 5th in Team Pursuit)
  • 2011 UCI Track World Championships, Apeldoorn, Netherlands (1st in Individual Pursuit; 2nd in Omnium; 2nd in Team Pursuit)
  • 2010 UCI Track World Championships, Copenhagen, Denmark (1st in Individual Pursuit; 4th in Team Pursuit)
  • 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing, China (5th in Individual Pursuit, DNF in Points Race)
  • 2008 UCI Track World Championships, Manchester, Great Britain (2nd in Individual Pursuit)
  • 2007 UCI Track World Championships, Palma, Spain (1st in Individual Pursuit)
  • 2006 UCI Track World Championships, Bordeaux, France (1st in Individual Pursuit)

Career Highlights

  • 1st place — 2013/14 UCI Track World Cup #2, Aguascalientes, Mexico, Omnium
  • Overall winner — 2012/13 UCI Track World Cup Women's Omnium Rankings
  • 1st place — 2012/13 UCI Track World Cup #3, Aguascalientes, Mexico, Omnium
  • 1st place — 2011/12 UCI Track World Cup, London, U.K., Omnium
  • 5th place — 2011/12 UCI Track World Cup, London, U.K., Team Pursuit
  • 1st place — 2011/12 UCI Track World Cup, Cali, Colombia, Omnium
  • 3rd place — 2011/12 UCI Track World Cup, Cali, Colombia, Team Pursuit
  • 1st place — 2010/11 UCI Track World Cup, Manchester, U.K., Omnium
  • 3rd place — 2010/11 UCI Track World Cup, Manchester, U.K., Team Pursuit
  • 4th place — 2009/10 UCI Track World Cup, Copenhagen, Denmark, Team Pursuit
  • World Record Holder — Individual Pursuit, 3:22.269 set on 5/11/2010
  • Previous World Record Holder (with Dotsie Bausch and Lauren Tamayo) — Team Pursuit, 3:19.569 set on 5/12/2010
  • 20-time USA Cycling National Champion
  • 1st place — 2010 Pan American Championships, Aguascalientes, Mexico — Individual Pursuit, Omnium, Team Pursuit
  • 1st place — 2007 UCI Track World Cup, Los Angeles, California — Individual Pursuit, Points Raice and Scratch Race
  • 1st place — 2006 UCI Track World Cup, Manchester, England — Individual Pursuit, Points Race and Scratch Race

Click here for Sarah Hammer's Domestic Results

Points of Interest

  • Sarah founded the American Women's Track Cycling Fund in 2006 to support, mentor, equip and finance the efforts of future cyclists.
  • Sarah broke an 11-year-old national record in the women's 3-kilometer individual pursuit in 2006 with a time of 3:32.865. Since then she's lowered the mark several times.
  • With her world title in 2007, Sarah was the first American woman to win back-to-back world titles in 20 years when Rebecca Twigg did it in 1984-85.

Personal

One of the most remarkable American track cycling careers almost never took place after Sarah Hammer quit the sport in 2003. Burned out from the rigors of competitive cycling, Sarah gave up the sport after just two years as an elite rider. Not intending to return, she sold most of her equipment, went to school and worked various odd jobs.

However, during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Sarah was inspired to make a comeback after watching her former teammates and competitors race on the sport's biggest stage. Later that year, at age 20, Sarah returned to the sport with a renewed sense of motivation. Since Sarah's brief hiatus, she's set two world records — in the individual pursuit and as part of the team pursuit — and become the first American woman to win three medals at a track world championships (in 2011).

Sarah began cycling at age eight when her father, Cliff, introduced her to the sport. Sarah was a quick study and won her first junior national title in 1995 — the same year that Rebecca Twigg won the last women's World Championship Track gold medal for the United States. Eleven years later, Sarah put an end to America's gold medal drought by taking the win and the world champion's rainbow jersey in Bordeaux, France, in 2006.

If it was her father that got her into cycling, she credits her husband and coach, Andy Sparks, for his tireless support of her career.

Sarah's pursuit of perfection seems to go well beyond the international distinctions she has collected within track racing. Besides being at the top of the sport, Sarah strives to live an "all-around" life. She spends time off the bike sharpening her mind and spirit by reading, hiking, exploring new places and taking her golden retriever on road trips. She studies world geography and how it relates, among other things, to cultures, languages and politics.

 


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