Clarence Brickwood KINGSBURY

Clarrie Kingsbury of Portsmouth was a remarkably versatile cyclist. He won an NCU title every year from 1907 to 1912 at distances ranging from a quarter-mile to 50 miles and between these extremes he won the gold medal at 20 km. at the 1908 Olympic Games. At the Olympics, the heats and final of the 20 km. event were held on the same day and after winning the fastest of the heats, Kingsbury beat his team-mate Ben Jones, by inches in the final. Three days later when won a second gold medal in the team pursuit. After the Olympics he went immediately to the World Championships in Leipzig and on his triumphant return to Portsmouth, Kingsbury was greeted by a vast crowd, estimated 60,000, and honored at a civic reception. Clarrie Kingsbury began racing as a 12-year-old in schoolboy events and won his first open event at the age of 16. At the end of his long career he became a publican in Portsmouth which provided him with a suitable site for displaying his many valuable trophies which, it is said, his customers were constantly encouraged to admire. After his Olympic victory, one of his two infant daughters received Kingsbury’s medal from the Queen. Both his daughters, Leonie and Thelma, were to become Britain’s leading badminton players in the 1930s. Between 1932 and 1937 they each won the All-England singles titles twice, collectively won five ladies’ doubles but with different partners as they did not enjoy being paired together in major tournaments and in 1937 Thelma won the mixed doubles.