Callum Skinner

Callum Skinner (born 20 August 1992) is a British former track cyclist. He won the silver medal in the individual sprint at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and was a member of the British team that won gold in the team sprint.

Early life Skinner was born to mother Judith and father Scott, He took up cycling in 2004, inspired by Chris Hoy's success in the sport at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

In 2008 he was national youth champion and received the award from Hoy himself. Skinner competed representing Scotland in the team sprint at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, finishing fourth. The following year he took two medals at the Under-23 European Track Championships, winning a bronze in the individual sprint and a silver in the team sprint alongside Peter Mitchell and Philip Hindes. He was subsequently promoted to the British Cycling Olympic Podium Programme in 2013. He came to prominence at the 2014 British National Track Championships, winning a clean sweep of four national sprint titles. In October 2014, he became European champion in the 1 km time trial.

In January 2016 Skinner was a member of the team that won the overall title for the men's team sprint at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Hong Kong. In March he finished eighth in the individual sprint in the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics he was part of the team that won gold in the men's team sprint along with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny, setting an Olympic record of 42.440 in the final against New Zealand. He won the silver medal in the men's individual sprint, beating Matthew Glaetzer 2–0 in the semi-final

In a 2020 interview, Skinner stated that his mental health declined after the 2016 Olympics, culminating in what he described as a "mental breakdown" during the 2018 Commonwealth Games after he was disqualified from the keirin, although he did go on to take a medal in the kilometer time trial. He said that in 2019 he disclosed his mental health issues to a senior person at British Cycling, but that the official in question refused his request for time off to recover: he reflected that "that conversation finished me as a cyclist". The following month he announced his retirement from competition in order to focus on advocating improvements in sportspeople's rights and working conditions. He also supports equality for LGBTQ athletes: both his father and brother are gay.

2016 Olympic Games

2015–16 Track Cycling World Cup 1st Team sprint (with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny), Round 4

2017 2017–18 Track Cycling World Cup 2nd Team sprint (with Jack Carlin and Philip Hindes), Round 3 3rd 1km time trial, Round 2

2018