Tom Cooper

Tom Cooper was a professional cyclist who competed in several of the professional events that were contested alongside the cycling events at the 1900 Paris Olympics. Cooper was a major rival of the great American champion Major Taylor. Cooper was the 1898 half-mile champion of the League of American Wheelman (LAW) and won the Bicycle Championship of America for the 1899 season. In 1898 Cooper formed the American Racing Cyclists Union, a rival organization to the LAW.

Cooper teamed with Henry Ford in 1902 to build high-speed race cars. Ford sold his share back to Cooper in October 1902 and went on to form the Ford Motor Company. The Cooper-Ford car was raced by famed auto racer Barney Oldfield. Cooper also raced cars as a driver. Oldfield and Cooper actually combined to stage a Broadway play using special effects from their race cars. After a few months, they tired of this and returned to racing cars. Cooper died in an auto accident in New York City in November 1906.