Olga Kevelos, from Birmingham, England, died in 2009, shortly before her 86th birthday. She was the only woman to have won two International Six Days Trial (ISDT) gold medals. She rode bikes from many major British manufacturers including AJS, Triumph, Norton and Greeves, as well as Italian marques including, Parilla, and Jawa.
Her racing career spanned over two decades. In the early days, she rode an AJS to San Remo, Italy for the 1948 ISDT, during which she suffered a broken wrist and ankle. She then rode back to Birmingham with wrist and ankle in plaster.
The following year the ISDT was held in Wales, and there she won her first gold medal on a 500cc Norton Manx. On another occasion she rode her Parilla over a cliff during an ISDT at Lake Como, losing two teeth in the process.
One of her very good friends was Rex McCandless of Featherbed fame. Olga was involved with Rex, apparently, when she raced cars at Brands Hatch and Thruxton. Very much a party animal, she was arrested for general rowdiness during a night on the turps, along with one of the Scottish Six Days officials.
After she retired from racing. Olga helped her brother run the Three Tuns pub Kings Sutton. Localy, she had been described as, “…an astronomer, ‘Idle Woman’, motorcycle racing champion, Mastermind contestant, a much-loved (and respected) pub landlady, an energetic parish councillor, sometimes a very wicked humourist, and a good friend to many, many people in King’s Sutton and beyond.”
Olga appeared on the BBC quiz show, Mastermind in 1978, with Genghis Khan as her specialist subject. Her expertise on the Mongolian Emperor was also a topic of interest for former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who reportedly asked her about the topic at a Foreign Office reception. She later joked, “He probably wanted a few tips on how to invade other people’s countries successfully”