Nelson Beasley VAILS

Nelson Vails learned his bicycle skills as a bike messenger on the streets of New York. He eventually became a top track sprinter, winning the gold medal in sprint at the 1983 Pan American Games. Vails won national titles in sprint in 1984 and tandem sprint in 1984-86. He was a tandem sprint silver medalist at the 1985 World Championships. In the 1980s and 1990s Vails competed professionally in Europe in 6-day races and in Japan in keirin. In 1986 a movie starring Kevin Bacon, “Quicksilver,” was made about New York City bicycle messengers, ostensibly inspired by Vails’ story. Vails was the first African-American to win an Olympic cycling medal. In 2009 he was inducted into the US Bicycle Hall of Fame.