Shane Perkins

Early life

Perkins was born in Melbourne, the son of Daryl Perkins. As a youngster, Perkins played cricket, football and basketball. He played basketball at a very high level aged 7 to 14, but did not enjoy it enough to continue. Perkins rode BMX for a short while and began cycling aged in 1999 with his father, who had himself been a successful cyclist.

His first cycling club was the Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club, and his first medal was won at the Victoria state championships at Northcote, it was a gold medal in the sprint event, where he beat friend and rival Michael Ford. Within three months of taking up cycling, he had qualified to compete at the U15 Australian National Championships in Sydney, there he won two gold medals and broke two Australian records in the process. He went on to win 11 further National Championship titles between then and 2006, and broke another two Australian records. He is an Australian Institute of Sport and Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

2004: Junior World championships

In Los Angeles in 2004, Perkins became the sprint and keirin junior World Champion. He tested positive for methamphetamine following the Keirin final on 29 July, his case was heard in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November 2004. The Court took into account extenuating circumstances, accepting that Perkins had used a stimulant inadvertently. A Cycling Australia statement said: "In America Perkins purchased a nasal inhaler of the same brand he regularly uses in Australia without realising it contained a different active ingredient, namely methamphetamine, which is on the banned list," Perkins' suspension ran for six months, from 16 November 2004.

Commonwealth Games

Perkins was reselected to represent Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in his hometown, Melbourne. He won a bronze medal as part of Australia's team sprint squad, becoming the youngest ever Australian cyclist to win a Commonwealth Games medal. He then went on to represent his country and claim the gold medal in the Men's individual sprint event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. His 2010 Commonwealth Games were not completely successful, however, as he was disqualified from the semifinal of the men's keirin. Relegated to the 7-12 place race, he swore at the judges as he crossed the finishing line. He later apologised and withdrew from the men's team sprint. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he was part of the team that won the bronze medal in the men's team sprint.

London 2012

Perkins qualified for the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Perkins competed in the Men's Sprint, Men's Keirin, and Men's Team Sprint. He was part of the Australian sprint team that finished 4th, finished 5th in the keirin but won the bronze medal in the individual sprint.

Since 2015: Out of Australian team and acquirement of the Russian citizenship

Since 2015, Perkins was not considered to be a candidate to the Australian international team, in particular, he missed the 2016 Summer Olympics. On 15 February 2017, it was announced that Perkins is in the process of acquiring Russian citizenship with the goal to race for the Russian team at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

In August 2017, Perkins was granted Russian citizenship. At the national championships, Perkins won gold with the Moscow team. He then won bronze in the individual sprint event, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Pavel Yakushevsky. He beat Alexey Tkachev in the bronze medal match. Perkins later also won gold in the keirin discipline.

Personal life

In February 2008, tension was brewing between Perkins and his rival for Olympic selection, Ryan Bayley. Both were deemed by the judges to be riding improperly at the Australian National Track Championships. Bayley crashed when Perkins moved down on him during a race, burning a hole in the back of his skinsuit. The relationship between the two riders was given another dimension, when Perkins announced his engagement to Bayley's younger sister, Kristine Bayley.

Perkins and Kristine Bayley had a son, Aidan, in October 2008. They were married in November 2009.