Peter Lombard II

Peter Lombard II
Personal information
Full namePeter Lombard II
Born (1976-05-24) May 24, 1976 (age 48)
Mongmong-Toto-Maite, Guam
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)[1]
Weight161 lb (73 kg)[1]
Team information
Current teamEuroCyclingTrips Pro Cycling
Disciplines
  • Mountain biking
  • Road
RoleRider
Professional team
2020–EuroCyclingTrips–CMI[2]

Peter Lombard II (born May 24, 1976) is a Guamanian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team EuroCyclingTrips Pro Cycling.[3] He rode at the cross-country event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was pulled from the race after he crashed twice. He is an eye surgeon and owns a clinic, Lombard Health.

Biography

Early life and education

Peter Lombard II was born in Guam on May 24, 1976, to Dr. Gabriel and Mrs. Kathleen Lombard.[4][5] He attended St. John's School in Tumon. Lombard attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1995 to 1998 and earned a 4.0 GPA. He was the valedictorian. Lombard lettered four times at the academy, and was the captain of the gymnastics team. In 1998, he earned CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American honors.[6]

Afterward, he studied at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.[5] He is currently an eye surgeon and owns a clinic, Lombard Health Eye Clinic.[7] Lombard has a daughter named Aleia.[8] He started cycling c. 2001, and competed in triathlons. He ramped up his training regimen after returning from medical school.[9]

Pre-Olympics

In February 2016, Lombard was the 2016 Guam National MTB Champion. Winning the race qualified him for the UCI Oceania Mountain Bike Cross Country Championship the next month in New Zealand.[5] Australia, New Zealand, and Guam qualified athletes at the event.[9]

Lombard was the only Guamanian athlete to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics on merit.[8] Lombard rearranged his work schedule to allow for more training. He also took a week's absence from work to train on mountains in Japan.[7]

2016 Summer Olympics

Lombard did not place at the Olympics. He had issues with his bike pedal that made it hard to clip in. At one point, the course was so slippery from rain, riders had to dismount. The faulty clip made it difficult for Lombard to re-mount his bike. He crashed on the first and second laps. He was pulled from the race after the second crash.[10] Once the motorcycle pulled him from the race, he was at the top of a mountain and unsure where to go. He decided to cheer on the cyclists still in the race, which drew attention and was well received by the crowd. Lombard was one of five athletes who did not finish the race. About his Olympic experience, he said, "I’m happy to be done, happy to be in one piece".[11]

Post-Olympics

Lombard also had some crashes leading up to Rio. After the Games, he discovered he had spine issues. He received injections and took some time off, but requires spine fusion surgery in order to improve his quality of life.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Peter Lombard". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  2. ^ "EuroCyclingTrips - CMI Pro Cycling". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  3. ^ "EuroCyclingTrips - CMI Pro Cycling". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  4. ^ "Peter Lombard II". Olympic. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Lombard Qualifies for 2016 Olympics". Guam Cycling. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  6. ^ Evans, John (July 27, 2016). "Navy's Tugade takes a run at Rio for Guam". Capital Gazette. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Balajadia, Robert (July 28, 2016). "Olympic profile: Cyclist Peter Lombard". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Tomas, Jojo (August 19, 2017). "Rio de Janeiro Olympics cyclist Peter Lombard wants to compete again, but needs to heal". Pacific Daily News. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Sablan, Jerick (July 23, 2016). "Lombard achieves dream to compete in Olympics". Pacific Daily News. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  10. ^ "Men's Cross Country". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ Sablan, Jerick (August 22, 2016). "Olympic mountain bike course gets best of Lombard". Pacific Daily News. Retrieved February 18, 2018.