some months ago, former world champion Michael Marcussen after five years of waiting for a message, which has obliterated the memory of what he has accomplished on the racercyklen up through the’80s.
He was declared kræftfri.
– I won the life. It is my biggest victory, says Michael Marcussen to Ekstra Bladet.
There are not so many Danish athletes, who have been world champion or, for that matter, has won so many titles and medals as Michael Marcussen.
Regnbuetrøjen – the visible proof of a World championship – was pulled down over the head of him one day at the end of august in 1983, when he has raced Oerlikon in Zurich after a third and a second place finish in the WORLD cup triumphed in the 50 km points race.
Michael Marcussen get a WORLD-cup sejrskys of his former wife, Hanne after the triumph in Zurich (Photo: Peer Pedersen
A year later, Michael Marcussen Danish standard bearer at the opening of the OLYMPICS in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the only other cyclist through the ages.
Even though through all the years has been a great deal of respect for the strong pace rider, which could run both on road and track, there was first a long time after, that there was put an end to his career, he was thrown out of his life’s race.
the counterpart was death itself.
It turned out to be many times worse than being ‘fried’ by competitors in the outbreaks on the way to a game.
– Several times I have be about to give up, because I was in doubt whether it was all worth it, says Michael Marcussen, who had to go through 64 radiation treatments for cancer in tungeroden.
It was in the fall of 2014, he was diagnosed with, and 32 days in a row had his wife, Kirsten, run him back and forth, because he was so heavily medicated, that he himself had to drive the trip from home near Osted between Roskilde and Ringsted, denmark to Herlev Hospital.
– Usually affects cancer in tungeroden only men, who smoke and drink, so I was really in the target audience, saith the conference from Michael Marcussen, who has paid the price to get keep life.
Strålebehandlingerne gave not only burns, but has meant that he can no longer produce saliva, and therefore it is over to eat the red steak and drink frothy beer, and fizzy soda.
– It will take me two-three days to get through a steak, he says.
– Therefore, I live almost entirely of the sauces and søbemad and water from the tap.
– While I was in radiation, I lost me 25 pounds, but I was also smoked well over 100 pounds, says Marcussen, who, during the course of radiation therapy was given tube feeding pumped in through the nose.
During the long illness has a nearly lifelong friendship with the other three from the 4000 metres team from the OLYMPICS in Los Angeles 1984, the well-known names Jørgen V. Pedersen, Brian Holm and Dan Frost helped to keep the livsmodet up with fjerdemanden, and alternately has one of the three been past several times a week.
After 23 years as a plumber at the real estate company Jeudan is Michael Marcussen gone on retirement, but his love for the sport continue to live.
in Addition to being a volunteer helps, when running the race in Ballerup Super Arena, he is four times a year to Mallorca, where his friend Dan Frost as the organizer of tours around the island for cykelmotionister.
So is it another old friend, the former topsprinter Brian Dandanell, who stands ready with a bicycle, since the latter, Mallorca has a bicycle rental service.
– When I am in Ballarat, it may be the case that I’m running a little dernypace. I have started to pay back to my sport, ” says Michael Marcussen, who, contrary to the bad forecasts for tungerodskræft remain among us.
——— SPLIT ELEMENT ———
Cheated of the great OLYMPICS-medal
That was scammed to the great OLYMPICS-the silver medal.
Therefore, Michael Marcussen also go home empty handed from his second OLYMPICS.
The Danish 4000 metres team led by Michael Mortensen was beaten in a quarter-final with a few centimeters, tohundrededele of a second of the OLYMPICS-the hosts, the UNITED states, which, before anyone at all knew the impact, took advantage of bloddoping.
Even though it sounded wrong, was it not in the secret, and the well-known american magazine Rolling Stones, who usually writes most of the music and pop culture, could talk about how mediocre american cyclists got wings.
It was also long before, that the EPO came into the sport, and there came to be several years before the american riders on the new could apply.
– I’m not quite so bitter as f.ex. Brian Holm, who has since refused to drink a cup of coffee with a u.s. snyder, Michael Marcussen.
In the points race, he did not rematch and repeated, thus, not the triumph from the WORLD cup, because the rest of the field sat on his wheel, so Belgium’s Roger Ilegems drove with the gold medal, which the Danish OLYMPIC camp had put the nose up after.
Michael Marcussen shall continue the bike forward to a workout (Photo: Aleksander Klug)
Therefore, the Danish OLYMPIC squad for the first and so far only time since the 2. War ii to come home from The Olympics without a gold medal.
Four years earlier, Michael Marcussen scored OLYMPIC debut in the 100 km group run also by a boykotramt OLYMPICS in Moscow, where the Danish quartet never got to play a role.
– It was not all the athletes who confined himself to eat oatmeal, and drink distilled water, says Michael Marcussen.
– Many of the eastern european riders had some huge thighs. From the OLYMPICS-the opening I will never forget the sight of a ’kæmpekvinde’ of a soviet basketball player, remembers Michael Marcussen, immediately after the Los Angeles OLYMPICS turned professional with north Coast Roofing as a personal sponsor.
Why was it on the vinterbanen in 6-day races, to he until karrierestoppet in 1991, earned his salary in what, in cykelkredse referred to as the third era.
– Several others were at that time professionals on the road, but I was too big a tryghedsnarkoman to take the step, says Michael Marcussen.
——— SPLIT ELEMENT ———
Michael Marcussen blue book
Born: 9. January 1955.
world Champion in the points race 1983.
2 x WORLD cup silver and 2 x WORLD championship bronze in the points race.
2 x olympian.
OLYMPIC standard bearer in 1984.
run the 36 6-dagesløb, 1 victory in Perth, Australia along with Kim Eriksen.
7 x Danish champion (2 times on the road.
this Year’s athlete in 1983.
2 x year cyclist.
