Jimmy Lauf
Jimmy Lauf's 1949 National Champion
Jimmy Lauf's jersey from the 1952 Olympics
Jimmy with his brother Arthur, and Paul Luders
The Willie Honeman Sprint Championship
Jimmy's publicity photo, 1947
The cover of Bicycling, July 1945
Maryland championship road race
Jimmy Lauf was a talented American bike racer in the 1940s and 1950s. We have some great memorabilia from his racing career hanging in the store.
After winning the National Championship in 1949, Jimmy was offered bicycles from Schwinn if he would come to Chicago and race. Like many amateur athletes at the time, Jimmy had trouble with this offer. He had to tell Schwinn no, since American Bicycle League officials said that the deal would give Lauf professional status if he took the bikes.
About the same time, a European system for American amateur cyclists to earn prize money was created that kept their cash in Canadian bank accounts. American Bicycle League officials had told Jimmy that if he were to spend this money in the United States he would be considered a professional, making him ineligible to ride at the Olympic games. At the end of the 1949 season, Jimmy withdrew his money from his Canadian account and flew to Europe to race. In Belgium he was given contracts to ride in track events as the reigning US National Champion. He didn’t spend a dime of his earnings in the U.S., and thus remained an “amateur”.
Jimmy rode the 4000 meter team pursuit in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics along with Tom Monemage, Steve Hromjak, and Don Sheldon.