John Millman

John Millman’s family was from Vancouver, but he was born in Portland while his parents were there looking for work during the Great Depression, and did not come to Canada until the age of three. He took up cycling in 1946, but had taken an interest in the sport well before he began practicing it. He had his first encounter at the age of nine in Vancouver, when he witnessed a race was organized in honour of a visit from the King and Queen and Millman and was fascinated by the winner’s speed. He watched his next race two years later and then, while working as a telegram messenger boy after school in 1945, came across a meeting discussing the revival of the Vancouver Cycle Club and was finally persuaded to take up the sport.

Millman began racing in high school, but a serious skiing accident in December 1946 slowed his development. By the time he entered the University of British Columbia (UBC), in 1948, he had decided that he would specialize in the sprint rather than road racing. He came in second in the provincial trials for that year’s London Olympics, behind Lorne Atkinson, but opted not to travel to the national trials, believing that he would not be selected. After winning his first national titles in 1949, Millman then won the sprint trials for the 1950 British Empire Games. During 1949 he worked to earn money to support his training in the warmer climate of California prior to this tournament.

At the 1950 British Empire Games, Millman defeated New Zealand’s Don Olive in the heats of the 1000 metres sprint, but then lost after Olive requested a re-run. Olive claimed that his tire was “soft” and, in the re-match, forced Millman to swerve, at speed, dangerously. Millman did, however, defeat Atkinson in British Columbia’s famous Province Race later that year and defend his Canadian title in the sprint. After racing in a six-day race in the United States and working on a tobacco farm, he returned to UBC in October to complete his pre-medical degree.

By summer 1951, however, Millman was back to working odd jobs to save money in order to pay his university fees and keep. His training took a back seat to his studies for the first half of the year, but he resumed in the winter so that he could compete in the Canadian Olympics Trials for the 1952 Games. He won both the sprint and the 1000 metre time trials in March 1952, but gave his spot in the latter event to runner-up Frederick Henry. In Helsinki, Millman was eliminated in the quarterfinals repêchage of the sprint. He also competed at that year’s UCI Track Cycling World Championships, but did not reach the final after some controversial judging decisions. He won his quarterfinal repêchage, but the judges mistook him for another rider and, despite support from that rider, Millman was not permitted to advance. He then returned to Canada, completed his degree in Zoology and Psychology, enrolled in UBC’s medical school, got married, and had a daughter.

Millman’s cycling career, however, was not yet over. He finished second in the sprint trials for the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and competed in the 10-mile scratch race at that tournament without reaching the podium. After dropping out of medical school, he competed in the 1955 North American Championship and won the sprint, but refused to re-run the race after American Jack Disney protested the result. When a film of the final was reviewed, however, it was determined that Millman’s victory had been legitimate and he was therefore crowned North American champion.

Millman then sought to turn professional, although a bout with gastroenteritis delayed his début and changed his home base from Milano to Paris (where the track ended up being closed due to a Winter Circus), Antwerp, and eventually England. After a second round of illness, this time with superficial punctate keratitis, he had not yet raced as a professional and was therefore eligible to compete at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but was unable to afford to travel to Montreal to compete in the trials. His first marriage soon ended and his second one began, and he returned to Edmonton to work with the Alberta provincial government, forgoing a professional cycling career, as he felt that his form had fallen off. He earned a master’s degree in Psychology in 1964 and then returned to London, where he earned a PhD in 1970. He later worked in psychopharmacology at the University of Newcastle.