Marty Nothstein facts for kids

Martin Wayne Nothstein (born February 10, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer and track cyclist. He is a three-time world champion in track events and an Olympic gold and silver medalist. Nothstein also servied as a Lehigh County Commissioner and ran unsuccessfully as the Republican Party nominee for the 2018 United States House of Representatives election in Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district and 2018 Pennsylvania's 7th and 15th congressional district special elections.

Early life and education

Nothstein was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, one of five children to Gail Benner Nothstein and Wayne Nothstein, owner of a local automotive business, Nothstein Motors. Nothstein's paternal great grandfather was an accomplished bicycle racer and bare-knuckle prizefighter. Nothstein is a 1989 graduate of Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. He attended Penn State University.

Cycling career

Nothstein began cycling in 1987 and made his international debut in 1989 at UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Lyon, France. Nothstein won his first world championship medal in 1993, winning silver in the keirin. He became a double world champion in 1994, winning both sprint and keirin events at the 1994 World Championships while nursing a broken heel bone. Nothstein again rode with a fractured bone, his kneecap, as part of the U.S. print team that won the bronze medal at the 1995 World Championships.

Nothestein represented the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he won the silver medal in the cycling spring. Four years later, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, he became the first American cyclist in 16 years to win an Olympic Games gold medal, winning the Olympics' cycling sprint.

In March 2001, he turned professional with the U.S.-based Mercury Viatel team. The following year,l in 2002 he moved to the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team, where he remained for four years until ending his career in 2006.

In 2004, in order to transfer to road riding, he lost 30 pounds compared to normal weight at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Post-cycling career

Nothstein retired from competitive cycling after the 2006 season and drove the NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car for Follow A Dream.

Nothstein won two races in the 2007 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season. The first was at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida in the series’ season opener. The second was in mid-July at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. He finished 11th in points in the 2007 NHRA Alcohol Funny Car season.

2018 U.S. House campaign

In October 2017 Nothstein announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district for the 2018 United States House of Representatives election prior to the announcement of the district's Republican incumbent, Charlie Dent, that he would not run for another term. He lost his bid for Congress in the 7th District to Democrat Susan Wild, receiving 43.5% of the vote.

Nothstein also ran in special election for Charlie Dent's former seat in Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district. Nothstein was defeated by Wild in this election as well, receiving 129,593 votes to Wild's 130,353 votes.

Major achievements

World Championships

3-Gold Medals – Keirin (1996), Sprint and Keirin (1994)

2-Silver Medals – Match Sprint (1996), Keirin (1993)

2-Bronze Medals – Keirin, (1997), Team Sprint (1995)

U.S. National Championships

34-Gold Medals

See also

In Spanish: Marty Nothstein para niños