Wooster High graduate Greg LeMond awarded Congressional Gold Medal

Wooster High graduate Greg LeMond was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal last Friday, becoming the 10th individual athlete and first cyclist to receive the honor.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill in September 2019 to award LeMond the Gold Medal, which is considered “the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions.”

Bill H.R. 3589 was introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson, a Democrat from California after he head the book “The Comeback: Greg LeMond, the True King of American Cycling, and a Legendary Tour de France."

LeMond is the only American to win the Tour de France after the victories by Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis were stripped due to doping. LeMond, a 1979 graduate from Wooster who grew up in Washoe Valley, won the Tour de France in 1986, 1989 and 1990.

"I wrote 'The Comeback' because I thought Greg LeMond deserved to be a lot more famous," author Daniel de Vise told the La Crosse Tribune. "I felt his razor-thin victory at the 1989 Tour de France was the greatest comeback in American sports. I'm so glad the book reached Congressman Thompson, who made it his mission over the last two years to see that Greg finally reaped that recognition. Mike Thompson did all the work. All I did was plant the seed."

LeMond is considered the greatest “clean” U.S. cyclist. His three Tour de France titles are tied for the sixth most in the race's history. He was the first non-European professional cyclist to win the Tour de France. His eight-second win in 1989 race remains the closest in event history.

LeMond won the Road Race World Championship twice (1983 and 1989), becoming the first American male cyclist to win the event, and was the youngest cyclist to make Team USA's Olympics squad, doing so at age 18 in 1980. He didn't get to compete in the Games due to a U.S. boycott. LeMond was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year in 1989 and was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1996.

Congressional Gold Medals are only awarded through Acts of Congress, and the bills require co-sponsorship by two thirds of the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate before being considered for a vote. The bill was passed by Congress Nov. 16. and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Friday.

According to a release from the White House, the award is "in recognition of his service to the Nation as an athlete, activist, role model, and community leader."

The nine other athletes to earn the award are Jackie Robinson, Arnold Palmer, Larry Doby, Jack Nicklaus, Steve Gleason, Byron Nelson, Joe Louis, Roberto Clemente and Jesse Owens.