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Stuart L. Thomsen (born May 20, 1958 in Whittier, California)〔(Orange County Sheriff's Department PDF file of Medal of Valor and Medal of Courage winners in 2005 page 22 )〕 was an American bicycle motocross (BMX) racer. Stu Thomsen was one of the first of the "Old School" of professional BMX racers who gained fame in the early days of the sport beginning in 1974. His prime competitive years were from 1976-1985. Sometimes called the Babe Ruth of BMX〔''American BMXer'' January/February 1987 Vol.9 No.1 pg.46 (photo caption)〕 for his prolific success and domination of BMX racing during the sport's early days from the mid-1970s into the mid-1980s, Thomsen's considerable career accolades and legacy remain a benchmark for modern sports achievement. His nicknames, "The Man" and "Stompin Stu", were due in part to his size at 6 feet 1.5 inches and 200 lbs. ==Racing career milestones== Note: In the early days of professional racing, 1976 and prior, many tracks offered small purse prize money to the older racers of an event, even before the official sanctioning bodies offered prize money in formal divisions themselves. Hence early professionals like Stu Thomsen turning "pro" in 1975 at 16 years old racing for small amounts of money at track events when offered even before the NBA, regarded as the first true national BMX sanctioning body, had a professional division. The NBA started the first professional division in BMX in the 1977. For the sake of consistency and standardization noted professional first are for the first pro races for prize money offered by official BMX sanctioning bodies and not independent track events. Professional first are also on the national level unless otherwise indicated. Retired from Senior pro (NBL-"A"/ABA-"AA"): July 1987 Aged 29. He couldn't find a factory sponsorship for the expensive national circuit which even with the resources of his bikeshop Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center.〔''BMX Plus!'' June 1987 Vol.10 No.6 pg.35〕〔''BMX Action'' November 1987 Vol.12 No.11 pg.12 (Dear Gork, 3-B)〕 A combination of him being let go by Huffy and the depressed economic state of BMX which resulted in a dearth of sponsorship offers despite his looking; and a shoulder injury that he himself didn't let heal properly due to his competitiveness. At 29 he had largely made his goal to race until he was thirty years old.〔''Garage Magazine'' No.19 pg.48〕 However, he did race in large races that was both close to his Yorba Linda home and had large purses. For example, he did race at least once in 1988 at the ABA Winter Nationals at Chandler, Arizona with a 4th and 7th in Pro Cruiser at the two races over that weekend. This is in addition to him racing locally close to his home. He raced in the 1990 ABA Fall Nationals and made the Pro Open Main in the Sunday race, coming in sixth. He also raced the 1991 ABA Fall Nationals as well along with fellow "retired" pros Eric Rupe and Harry Leary but did not make any of the Mains. He raced the Fall nationals again a year later reclassifying to "A" pro (along with Harry Leary) coming in third in Pro Cruiser on Day 2 (October 24).〔''American BMXer'' December 1992 Vol.14 No.11 pg.61 & 68 (results)〕 In 1993 he resumed racing on a serious level in Pro Cruiser and in the then new ABA Veteran Pro class for a few years. Today he still races occasionally as an amateur in the ABA 45-50 cruiser and 36 & Over Expert 20" class sponsored by Redline. His last Senior Pro win in the 20" division before retiring from serious Senior pro competition appeared to had been at the NBL National in Sarasota, Florida on March 28, 1986.〔''BMX Plus!'' February 1987 Vol.10 No.2 pg.71〕 *Classifications at the time were determined by size and weight and not age and proficiency, so his age in this case is irrelevant. The Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup was the first "National" to be held in BMX. * *At the time there was no separate pro class for pros due to the relatively small number of pros. They raced with the 16 Experts, making it a Pro/Am class essentially. This is why during the early years of the pro division the national number one racer of a sanctioning body could be either an amateur or professional. This practice continued until the NBA's 1979 season in which the pros earned separate pro points and a separate pro plate from the amateurs. The NBL and ABA followed suit a year later for the 1980 season. These original Pro classes were the equivalent to Senior Pro/Elite Men at the time. In the following season, 1981, the pro class was divided into Junior and Senior levels in the ABA and NBL. The NBA remained with a single level pro class in 1981. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stu Thomsen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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