Liam Killeen

Liam Killeen (born 12 April 1982), is a British professional mountain biker. He represented England in cross country racing at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 where he came 3rd, and became Commonwealth Champion in 2006. He has won the British Mountain Biking National Champion over five consecutive years; 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. He competed for Great Britain at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen as the sole male cross-country rider for the British team for the London Games in 2012.

Liam Killeen
Personal information
Full nameLiam Killeen
NicknameKilla[1]
Born (1982-04-12) 12 April 1982
Malvern, Worcestershire, England, UK
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Team information
Current teamSpecialized Racing
DisciplineMTB & Cyclo-cross
RoleRider
Rider typeXC & Cyclo-cross
Professional teams
2005–2008Specialized
2009–2011Trek World Racing
2012–Giant Factory Off-Road Team
Major wins
British Mountain Biking National Champion 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Commonwealth Games 2006
British Cyclo-cross National Champion (2016)

Early life

Killeen had been interested in cycling from a young age, but a trip to the Malvern Classic introduced him to cross-country cycling when he was about thirteen.[2][3] He had previously been interested in motocross.[4]

Career
Killeen competing in the British Cycling National Trophy, 2010

Having won multiple titles both at the junior and Under-23 levels, he competed at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where he took the bronze medal. Despite having won his first major medal at the international level, he continued to compete in Under-23 events, winning the silver medal at the Under-23 World Championship in 2004.[4]

Prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics, he won the test event on the Olympic track in Greece. Competing in the Games themselves for the British team, he was held up by a crash early on in the race and ended up finishing in fifth place, outside of the medal spots.[5]

He returned to the English team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. Having placed third at the previous Games, he went two places better, taking the gold medal for his country.[6] In 2007, he suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and could not compete for an entire season.[2]

He competed once more for the British team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and was considered one of the favourites for the gold medal.[5] Only 150 metres (490 ft) into the race,[2] his handlebars clipped a race marker, flipping him over the bars and off the bike. This left him in last place chasing the rest of the pack, but he managed to move up to seventh place by the finish.[5] He did not get the chance to defend his gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games as mountain biking had been dropped from the games, replaced by archery in the schedule. He considered a switch to road racing to take part in the Games.[7]

He was selected as part of the British team to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,[8] where he hoped to achieve a podium finish,[2] but crashed out on the second lap of the race. He was the only athlete competing for Britain in the men's cross country.[8] As part of his training, he conducted practice runs at the Olympic track near Southend.[5]

He competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, finishing in 6th place.[9]

Career highlights

Source:[10]

2002
1st British Mountain Biking National Championships Espoir (Under 23)
2003
1st UCI World Cup Overall XC Under 23
1st Evathlon
1st Roc d'Azur
1st European Cup No. 2
1st UK National Point Series
1st European Cup No. 1
2004
1st UCI World Cup Overall XC Under 23
1st British Mountain Biking National Championships Under 23
1st National Cyclo-Cross Championships Under 23
1st NORBA Pro Men's XC, Mount Snow, Vermont (USA)
7th Olympic Games
2005
1st NPS XC #5 – Sherwood Pines (GBR)
1st NORBA XC #4 – Schweitzer Mtn (USA)
1st Firecracker 50 Marathon – Breckenridge (USA)
1st World Cup MX #3 – Mt Sainte Anne (CAN)
2006
British National Series XC No. 4 (GBR) – 1st
1st Cross Country, Commonwealth Games
2008
1st NORBA Marathon #2 – Nova (USA)
1st British Mountain Biking National Championships
5th Olympic Games
2009
1st British Mountain Biking National Championships
1st British Mountainbike Series Round 3
1st British Mountainbike Series Round 4
2010
1st British Mountain Biking National Championships
1st British Mountainbike Series Round 2
1st British Mountainbike Series Round 4
2011
1st British Mountainbike Series Round 3
1st British Mountainbike Series Round 5
1st British Mountain Biking National Championships
2012
1st British Mountain Biking National Championships
1st British Mountainbike Series Round 1
1st British Mountainbike Series Round 2
2016
1st British National Cyclo-cross Championships

References
  1. "Liam Killeen: Rider Profile". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  2. "Liam Kileen". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  3. "Meet MTB star Liam Killeen". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  4. "Liam Kileen". British Cycling. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  5. Bateman, Colin (29 March 2012). "Liam Killeen's Wheels Burning on Road to Redemption". Daily Express. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  6. "Liam Killeen". Sport England. Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  7. Montgomery, Ken (10 December 2009). "Birmingham's Commonwealth Games cross-country mountain-bike champion Liam Killeen targets gold on the road in New Delhi in 2010". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  8. "London 2012: Sir Chris Hoy leads strong GB team for London". BBC Sport. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  9. "Commonwealth Games 2014 – Men's Mountain Bike". publisher =. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  10. "Liam Kileen Points" (Seasons accessed via drop down menu). British Cycling. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
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