McElmury, Audrey (Phleger)
Cycling
b. 1943
An avid surfer as a teenager, McElmury took up cycling to strengthen a leg she had broken while skateboarding. She graduated from the University of California at San Diego in 1965, got married, had a son, and then returned to competition. She won the U. S. road racing and pursuit championships in 1966.
In 1969, McElmury won the women's world road race title. She was the first American to win a world cycling championship since Frank Kramer, the professional sprint champion in 1912. Her victory was so unexpected that the award ceremony had to be held up for half an hour while officials searched for a recording of the National Anthem.
McElmury repeated as national road racing and pursuit champion in 1970. She and her first husband, Scott McElmury, were divorced shortly afterward and she married another cyclist, Michael Levonas, in 1971. They both raced extensively in Europe that year. She then began coaching cyclists in Boulder, CO, but retired from the sport after suffering a concussion in a crash. She and her second husband wrote a book, Bicycle Training for Triathletes.