Eddie Borysewicz

Borysewicz was born in northeastern Poland, a region now a part of Belarus. Two years of military national service followed, during which the army denied him a place in its sports battalion because, he said, his father was anti-communist. ==National coach==

Borysewicz opened an office at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Squaw Valley, California. He said: His lack of English meant he had to use the son of a Polish friend, another cyclist, as a translator. He dispensed with established riders such as John Howard. Historian Peter Nye said: Among the first riders Borysewicz developed was Greg LeMond. He called him "a diamond, a clear diamond". That year, 1977, Sue Novara came second in the world sprint championship on the track and Connie Carpenter came second in the world road championship. The US did not send a team to the Olympic Games in Moscow. The Russians and most other communist nations then stayed away from men's cycling at the Games in Los Angeles four years later. That lessened competition but the four gold, three silver, and one bronze medal were the first Americans had won since 1912. ==Blood doping scandal==

America's successes at Los Angeles were colored by revelations that riders had blood transfusions before their events, a practice known as blood doping or blood boosting. The transfusions were to increase red blood cells in riders' blood, thus taking more oxygen to their muscles. They received the blood of others with similar blood types. The French coach and former world champion, Daniel Morelon, told the sports paper ''L'Equipe'' that American medical treatment was "extremely elaborate". He added: "I didn't say they were taking drugs but on the other hand we and many others were still at the stage of trying our little vitamins." Steve Hegg won a gold and a silver; Rebecca Twigg, Pat McDonough and Leonard Nitz won silver medals. They were identified in the subsequent inquiry as having had transfusions. The others were John Beckman, Mark Whitehead and Brent Emery. The rest of the team refused. Transfusions were suggested by Eddie, by staff members or by the physician who oversaw the boosting, Dr. Herman Falsetti, a professor of cardiology at the University of Iowa. The US federation banned blood-doping in January 1985. Although Borysewicz denied involvement, both he and Burke were fined a month's pay. Fraysse was demoted from first to third vice-president. ==Professional coach==

Eddie Borysewicz resigned as coach of the American national team in 1987 partly because of disagreements with members of his squad. He started his own amateur team in 1988. Sponsorship by Sunkyong, a Korean electronics firm, ended after a year and Borysewicz sought a replacement in Montgomery Securities. Its chief executive, Thomas Weisel, agreed to a team of 15 that included Lance Armstrong. That team, after several sponsorship changes, became the US Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams for which Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times before those victories were vacated in 2012 after the USADA ruled that Armstrong doped during each of those victories. Borysewicz claimed Lance Armstrong as his discovery and not that of Armstrong's later coach, Chris Carmichael. When Carmichael said of his work at the US federation that he wished he had "five Lances", Borysewicz replied, ==Personal life==

He lived in Ramona, California. His house burned in the 2003 Cedar Fire that devastated San Diego County. Eddie received over 600 letters from friends and cyclists worldwide in response to his loss. Donations totaling $120,000 allowed him to rebuild his house. ==Death==

After retiring from coaching in 2016, Borysewicz spent half the year in Ramona, California, and the other half in Poland. He died on November 16, 2020, at a hospital in Drezdenko, Poland, after contracting COVID-19. He was 81. ==Honors==

• Borysewicz was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1996. ==See also==