Background
Bishop was born in 1953 in Subiaco, Western Australia.
Bishop was born in 1953 in Subiaco, Western Australia.
In 1972, at the age of 19, Bishop represented Australia in the 4000 metre team pursuit at the Munich Olympics. In the world championships in Zurich in 1983 Bishop reached his zenith, retiring shortly after while at the peak of his career: riding in the 5000 metre Individual pursuit on a specially built Malvern Star bicycle said to be made in Switzerland. In fact the bicycle was made by a small custom bicycle shop in Western Australia, Bishop"s home town.
The shop was called Avocet Cycles and owned and operated by John Sampson (no longer in business as of 2015).
He made the bicycle for Bishop who then applied the Malvern Star graphics since he was sponsored by the company at the time. He faced off against Swiss Robert Dill-Bundi, the 1980 Olympic pursuit gold medallist.
The bicycle was relatively small framed against the powerfully built Bishop and featured aerodynamic tubing to reduce wind resistance. The bicycle is now in the collection of the Western Australian Museum.
Riding the race of his life, three laps from the finish he caught his opponent, a feat almost unheard of in world-class cycling, thus winning the race and the championship.
He set a personal best in the race of 5 minutes 51 seconds, and became the first Australian to beat 6 minutes in the event.