Cyclist Stephen Pate jailed - theage.com.au
Former world champion cyclist Stephen Pate has been jailed for beating his wife and smashing up the family home.
Pate, 39, pleaded guilty in the County Court to 11 charges after assaulting his wife twice in November last year and twice more in February this year.
Judge John Barnett said the gravity of Pate's offences was as much due to the ongoing fear he had instilled in his wife and children as the damage and injuries he caused.
He jailed the former world champion cyclist for 20 months with a minimum of eight months.
The court was told Pate returned to the family's suburban East Bentleigh home on November 2 last year soon after he had been arrested and bailed over an earlier domestic violence incident.
The second time, Pate pulled a knife on his wife, held it to her throat and threatened her when she tried to call police.
Pate breached intervention orders again when he returned twice more to the home in February this year, the second time on the morning he was due to appear in court.
Pate was described in court as "the Don Bradman" of Australian cycling who suffered enormous disappointment when he was left out of the Sydney 2000 Olympics cycling team due to a coaching squabble.
When the squad went on to win gold, Pate drowned his sorrows in alcohol and began arguing with his wife over the family finances.
His troubles were compounded when he fell from a roof while working as a carpenter, causing multiple fractures to his wrist and chipping his vertebra.
Pate was a dominant figure in track cycling in the 1980s and 1990s, winning the world professional sprint championships in 1988.
He has already served three-and-a-half-months in jail.
