Rebecca Twigg

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexFemale
Full nameRebecca Lynne•Twigg (-Whitehead-)
Used nameRebecca•Twigg
Born26 March 1963 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi (USA)
Measurements170 cm / 57 kg
Affiliations7-Eleven, (USA)
NOC United States
Medals OG
Gold 0
Silver 1
Bronze 1
Total 2

Biography

Rebecca Twigg was probably the most well-known women rider produced by America during the cycling explosion of the 1980s. She was a tremendous rider, mainly as an individual pursuiter, winning the World Championship four times, in 1982, 1984-85, and 1987. She was forced to turn to the road when only that event was chosen for women’s cycling at the 1984 Olympics. She was also popular for her good looks and her brilliant mind – she skipped high school completely, matriculating at the University of Washington when only 14, and she worked for a time as a model. A winner of the 1983 Coors International Classic, she narrowly missed winning a gold medal in the 1984 Olympic road race when Connie Carpenter-Phinney outsprinted her.

Twigg retired in 1987 but returned in late 1991 and won a bronze medal in the individual pursuit at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, and competed again in the pursuit at the Atlanta Olympics.

Her post-cycling life was not as kind to Twigg. She got some jobs in IT but had trouble adjusting to workplaces after so many years of training. She married, had a child, then divorced. By the late 2010s Twigg was living in shelters, sometimes on the streets, and was homeless in Seattle.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1984 Summer Olympics Cycling Road (Cycling) USA Rebecca Twigg
Road Race, Individual, Women (Olympic) 2 Silver
1992 Summer Olympics Cycling Track (Cycling) USA Rebecca Twigg
Individual Pursuit, Women (Olympic) 3 Bronze
1996 Summer Olympics Cycling Track (Cycling) USA Rebecca Twigg
Individual Pursuit, Women (Olympic) 5

Olympic family relations

Special Notes