Olga Kevelos

Who was Olga Kevelos?

Olga Kevelos was a British Motorcycle trials and enduro rider who was the only woman to win two gold medals at the International Six-Day Trial.

Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, she was educated at King Edward VI High School for Girls. Kevelos was one of the women who during the Second World War were recruited from 1943 to 1945 to work narrowboats on the Grand Union Canal between Birmingham and London. The women wore badges with the initials "I.W." for "Inland Waterways". As a result, male narrowboatmen gave them the pejorative nickname "Idle Women". After the Second World War Kevelos moved to King's Sutton in Northamptonshire where for many years she was landlady of The Three Tuns public house.

In 1949 Kevelos won the first of her two gold medals, riding a 500cc Norton Manx in the International Six-Day Trials in Wales. She was to ride with varying degrees of success in every Scottish Six Days Trial until she finally retired from the sport in 1970, and in every International Six-Day Trial until 1966. During her competition career she secured support from almost every major British motorcycle manufacturer, and from the Italian and Czech manufacturers Parilla and Jawa.