Dede Barry
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| Olympic medalist | |||
 Dede Demet-Barry speaks with reporters just prior to the start of the 1998 Women's Challenge stage race |
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| Medal record | |||
| Women's Cycling | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 2004 Athens | Time Trial | |
Deirdre ("Dede") Demet Barry (born October 8, 1972 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American female cycle racer, who is a 6 time U.S. National Champion (4 Senior national titles, and 2 Junior national titles), has 2 career World Cup victories, 2 World Championship medals, and, in 2004, won the Silver medal in the time trial in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. She is married to fellow professionial cyclist Michael Barry who rides for Team T-Mobile beginning in the 2007 season.
[edit] Biography
Barry did not start out in life as a cyclist, however. In fact, her first entry into competitive sports, at a very young age, was in figure skating. This didn't last long, though, since whenever she took to the ice for her figure skating lessons, all she wanted to do was race the other youngsters to see who could get to the other end of the rink the fastest. It is not too big a stretch to imagine an exasperated (and resourceful) coach suggesting that she take up speed skating, which she did, swayed also in part by watching Eric and Beth Heiden skate in the World Speedskating Championships in her home town of Milwaukee.
She became quite an accomplished speed skater with a promising future in that sport. She was a member of the U.S. National Speedskating Team from 1987 to 1991, and was selected to the U.S. World Championship Speedskating Team for the years 1988 - 1991.
Initially having taken up cycling as a form of cross training for speedskating (at the urging of her speedskating coach), Dede eventually made the switch completely to cycle racing. This switch was in part prompted by the fact that a major cycling race series (Superweek) used the streets directly in front of her childhood home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Barry is not alone in the cycling ranks in having a background in speed skating. Among other cyclists who have excelled or had a strong background in both sports, there is also Eric and Beth Heiden, Chris Witty, Clara Hughes, and Erin Mirabella.
Perhaps disappointed with successive near misses in qualifying for the Olympics in 1996 and 2000, Barry retired from the sport for the 2001 season, but came back strongly the following year, reentering the sport in impressive fashion with a victory in the Montreal World Cup, an event which she raced using a steel frame bike built by her father-in-law, Mike Barry.
Her biggest success came the following year (2004). Named to the U.S. Olympic team as a result of her having accumulated the highest number of UCI points among American riders, she won a Silver medal by coming in 2nd place in the individual Time Trial race in Athens.
[edit] Palmarès
2004 (team:T-Mobile)
Olympic Games Time Trial - 2nd place (Silver medal) 
Tour de l'Aude - 10th place, 2 stage victories Damesronde van Drenthe - 4th place
2003 (team: T-Mobile)
World Time Trial Championships - 8th place Giro della Toscana (cat 1) (Final Overall G.C. - 2nd place; Stage 4 - 1st place)
2002 (team: T-Mobile)
U.S. National Championships (Road Race - 6th place; Time Trial - 4th place) Liberty Classic (cat. 1) - 3rd place Le Tour du Montréal (cat. 2) (Final Overall General Classification - 2nd place; Stage 1 (Lachine Time Trial, 3 km) - 2nd place; Stage 2 (Little Italy Circuit Race) - 3rd place) Montréal (Can) World Cup - 1st place
2001
Dede Demet did not race during the year 2001
2000 (team: Saturn)
World Road Race Championships - 7th place Tour de Suisse Feminin (cat. 1) (Final Overall GC - 6th place) Women's Challenge (cat 1) (Stage 5 (Burley South Individual Time Trial) - 5th place; Stage 8 (Letha to Firebird Raceway) - 3rd place; Stage 10 (Idaho Statehouse Criterium) - 4th place) U.S. National Time Trial Championships - 4th place Tour de l'Aude (cat 1) (Stage 5 (Castelnaudary Time Trial) - 5th place) Tour of Willamette (Final Overall GC - 2nd place; Stage 6 (Brownsville Road Race) - 1st place)
1999 (team: Saturn)
BMC Tour of Houston - 1st place GP Feminin du Quebec (Overall GC - 5th place; Stage 1 (Farnham Road Circuit Race) - 3rd place; Stage 4 (Bedford Road Circuit Race) - 1st place) Superweek - 3 stage victories Tour de l'Aude (stage 7 (St. Lauret to Durban Corbieres) - 2nd place) Tour of Willamette (Final GC - 2nd place; Stage 1 (Hinman Vineyard Road Race) - 1st place) Redlands Bicycle Classic (stage 2 (California Speedway Time Trial) - 1st place)
1998 (team: Saturn)
Beneden-Maas (Ned) World Cup - 4th place Thüringen-Rundfahrt - 7th place Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic (Final Overall GC - 1st place; Stage 1 (Royal Plaza Time Trial, 12.9 miles) - 2nd place; Stage 3 (Road Race) - 2nd place) U.S. National Championships (Time Trial - 4th place; Road Race - 3rd place; Criterium - 1st place) Liberty Classic (USA) World Cup - 7th place Wilmington Classic - 3rd place Enchanted Mountain Stage Race (Stage 1 (Time Trial, 8.6 miles) - 2nd place; Stage 3 (Criterium) - 1st place) Tour of Willamette (Final Overall GC - 3rd place; Stage 2 - 1st place; Stage 4 - 3rd place) Tour de Snowy (Final Overall GC - 1st place; Stage 3 (Berridale to Cabramurra) - 2nd place) Sydney (Aus) World Cup - 1st place Street Skills Stage Race (Final Overall GC - 4th place; Stage 5 (Hamilton to Hautapu Road Race) - 1st place) Redlands Bicycle Classic (Stage 4 (Beaver Criterium) - 2nd place)
1997 (team: Saturn)
Grand Prix Feminin du Canada (1st place GC; 1st Points Classification; Stage 1 - 2nd place; Stage 4 - 1st place; Stage 3 - 3rd place) Tour Cycliste Feminin - stage win Tour de 'Toona (1st place GC; Prologue (Time Trial) - 3rd place; Stage 2 - 2nd place) U.S. National Championships (Road Race - 3rd place; Time Trial - 2nd place) Fresca International Cycling Classic (2nd place overall, 3 stage wins) Fresca Tour of America (4th place overall; Fresca Invitational (Seattle) - 3rd place; Fresca Cycling Classic (Racine) - 1st place; Fresca Cycling Classic (Schlitz Park) - 1st place; Fresca Cycling Classic (Lake Front) - 1st place; Fresca Cycling Classic (Alpine Valley) - 2nd place) Women's Challenge (cat 1) (Stage 6 - 3rd place; Stage 8 - 2nd place) CoreStates Liberty Classic - 5th overall Conyers and Pearman Grand Prix (2nd place GC; Road Race - 1st place; Criterium - 2nd place; Time Trial - 3rd place) 89er Stage Race (2nd place GC; Stage 3 (Criterium) - 1st place; Stage 2 (Time Trial) - 2nd place; Prologue - 3rd place) Street Skills Women's Stage Race (Stage 3 - 2nd place; Stage 6 - 2nd place) Redlands Bicycle Classic - stage victory (Criterium)
1996
U.S. National Road Race Championships - 1st place Redlands Bicycle Classic (2nd place GC; QOM Jersey)
1995
- U.S. National Time Trial Championships - 3rd place
- Pan American Games Time Trial - 1st place
- Women's Challenge - 1st place, 3 stage victories
- Thrift Drug Invitational - 1st
- Colorado Cyclist Classic - 3rd overall
- Tour de l'Aude - 4th place, 2 stage wins
- Epinal Stage Race - 2nd overall
- 89er Stage Race - 1st overall, 1 stage win
1994
- World Championships
- Team Time Trial - 3rd place
- Killington Stage Race - 1st overall
- U.S. National Championships
- Road Race - 2nd place
- Time Trial - 4th place
- Women's Challenge - 3rd overall, 3 stage wins
- Molenheike Stage Race - 5th overall with 1 stage win
1993
- World Team Time Trail Championships - 2nd place
- U.S. National Team Time Trial Championships - 1st place
- U.S. Olympic Festival - 1st place Team Time Trial
Prior to 1993
- 1991 U.S. National Championships
- Team Time Trial - 1st
- 1991 Pan American Games Team Time Trial - 1st place
- 1989 World Junior Road Race Championships - 1st place
- U.S. Junior National Championships
- Road Race - 1st place
- Time Trial - 1st place
