Cochise
Many of my generation remember the cyclist from Antioquia, Martín Emilio Rodríguez, better known as “Cochise”. Young people know the Colombian cyclists who have triumphed in Europe in recent decades, but they don't know that it was Cochise who opened these spaces for Colombian cycling in the 70s. Recently, I was able to refresh my memories of Cochise by reading a book about his life written by Juan Gonzalo Zapata: “Cochise, when Colombia learned to win”.
TL;DR
- Martín Emilio Rodríguez, known as "Cochise," was a pioneering Colombian cyclist.
- He set a world hour record in 1970 and became the individual pursuit world champion in 1971.
- Cochise won multiple Vuelta a Colombia and Tour RCN races, the country's most important road competitions.
- He also excelled in track cycling, winning multiple Pan American and Central American and Caribbean Games.
- Juan Gonzalo Zapata's book "Cochise, cuando Colombia aprendió a ganar" details his life and the history of Colombian cycling.
- Cochise was prevented from competing in the 1972 Munich Olympics because he was considered a professional athlete.
- His exclusion from the Olympics led to his famous quote: "In Colombia, more people die of envy than of cancer."