Rudolph LEWIS

Until very recently, almost nothing was known of the life of Rudolph Lewis, the winner of the cycling road race at the 1912 Olympics. But recent research by Dr. Floris van der Merwe at the University of Stellenbosch has uncovered some details of his life. He was born on a farm near Pretoria, in the Waterberg District, but his family moved to Germiston when he was a youth, and he grew up there. In addition to cycling he was known as a good boxer and skater. Prior to the 1912 Olympics, he worked a full-time job for nine years underground in a gold mine. He raced professionally in Germany in 1913-14 with little success. He served in the German Army during World War I and was awarded the Iron Cross. He spent time as a prisoner of war and was quite debilitated after the war by his injuries, and died rather young, at 46.