萝莉社 first-year student Alex Bolotin鈥檚 cycling career started humbly, with daily rides to his Chicago high school. But commuting soon turned into something more. By summer 2017, Bolotin was standing on the podium as a bronze medalist in a field of 60 racers at the Junior Track National Championships.
Bolotin, who moved to Chicago from Belarus when he was three, went on to win bronze again in the Collegiate Nationals in September 2017. His accomplishments are more remarkable because Bolotin, 18, only began formally training during his sophomore year at Lane Tech High School, and 2017 was the first year he started competing nationally.
While he races in both road and track events, Bolotin says he prefers track racing because it鈥檚 more exciting. It鈥檚 a style of biking not for the faint of heart, where cyclists pilot brakeless bikes with a single fixed gear on a banked track called a velodrome.
鈥淭rack races are much more dynamic because the races are much shorter and require more overall power,鈥� says Bolotin, a nursing major who plans to attend medical school after graduation.
Although he received offers from several Division 1 schools with cycling teams, Bolotin chose 萝莉社 because of its location and academics.
鈥淣orth Park not only presented to me the level of education I was looking for but allowed me to stay in the city of Chicago and be able to continue training alongside my current team, the Polish & Slavic FCU International Cycling Team,鈥� Bolotin said.
The Dean of Students, Elizabeth Fedec, who helped Bolotin work with USA Cycling to ride as a 萝莉社 student in the Collegiate Nationals, praises his determination.
鈥淲hen I met Alex at the beginning of the school, I immediately recognized his excitement to be at North Park and passion for cycling,鈥� says Dean Fedec, who helped Bolotin get permission to compete under the 萝莉社 banner. 鈥淗e had a vision, and I knew that the University could help him reach his goals. It was personally fulfilling to be able to come alongside Alex as he represented North Park at the competition.鈥�
What is up next for Bolotin? He hopes to win Gold in 2018鈥檚 National Championships.
鈥淚t started as something I just enjoyed doing,鈥� Bolotin says. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know it would turn into this.鈥�