Graeme Obree, nicknamed 'The Flying Scotsman', is a Scottish racing cyclist who twice broke the world hour record, in July 1993 and April 1994, and was the individual pursuit world champion in 1993 and 1995. He was known for his unusual riding positions and for the 'Old Faithful' bicycle he built which included parts from a washing machine. He joined a professional team in France but was fired before his first race. He has suffered from clinical depression and twice attempted suicide. His life and exploits have been dramatised in the film The Flying Scotsman. Obree created some of the most radical innovations in the history of bicycle design.
Obree was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in March 2010.
In 2011 Obree disclosed in an interview with the Scottish Sun that he is gay and that his difficulty with coming to terms with his sexual orientation contributed to his earlier suicide attempts. 'I was brought up by a war generation; they grew up when gay people were put in jail. Being homosexual was so unthinkable that you just wouldn't be gay. I'd no inkling about anything, I just closed down.' He came out to his family in 2005.