Olympic cyclist's medals set to go under the hammer in Harborough

William “Bill” Bailey became a household name after racing to glory in the early 1900s.

His medals and the owner’s First World War service medals will be auctioned on Tuesday February 18 at Gildings Auctioneers on Great Bowden Road.

They will have an estimate of £500-£800.

The badges were awarded to Bailey, the UCI Sprint World Champion and winner of the Grand Prix de Paris in four straight years from 1910-13.

The competitor badge being sold is from the 1908 London Olympics.

The team manager badges from Hitler’s infamous Berlin Games of 1936 and the London Olympics of 1948 show this superstar helped to straddle British cycling for many decades.

“In an Olympic year it’s a pleasure to offer collectors the chance to own memorabilia going back eight decades,” said Gildings director Will Gilding.

“Bill Bailey’s international achievements all that time ago are testament to the fact that recent British successes in the world of cycling are a resurgence of previous glories rather than an entirely new phenomenon.”

As an amateur aged 20 London-born Bailey competed in the 1908 London Olympics in the Men's Sprint and Men's 5,000m events.

The natural talent went on to win the national sprint title in 1909, 1912 and 1913, as well as the World sprint titles in 1909-1911 and 1913.

Bailey turned his back on the sport he loved to serve his country in the Army Service Corps in the Great War.

He resumed his cycling career in 1920, winning bronze in the Track Sprint event at the UCI World Championships in Antwerp.

Bailey competed as a professional racer throughout the 1920s and set a British record in 1928 for the half-mile standing start at the age of 40.

He became heavily involved in coaching and cycling events management and helped to found The Bicycle magazine in 1936.

Bailey died in Chiswick, west London, in 1971 aged 82 after carving out a stellar cycling career.

Anyone interested in selling an item at auction with Gildings can attend the weekly General Valuation Days from 10am-4pm on Fridays.