Inductees

There are some wild stories in sports, and his ranks right up there.

After all, Scott Sifferman took up competitive cycling not until he was well into his 40s. And, in one of his early races, he broke his pelvis in three places. Years later, a wipeout on a rain-soaked road led to a broken pelvis and fractured elbow. After that, a training ride collision with a coyote broke seven ribs, his hip, and his pelvis.

And yet he kept soldiering on, to victory after victory after victory across Missouri and the country, too.

“To have found success at the national level in time trial (cycling) has been very rewarding for me and affirms that the many hours of planning, training and racing were exactly what I needed to do,” Sifferman said.

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Sifferman with the Class of 2024 in the sport of cycling.

A 1972 Mount Vernon High School graduate, Sifferman has won six national Time Trial Championships and holds the national 5K Time Trial record of 5:52.25, which is the fastest for all age groups and all categories.

He won 87 state championship medals and 13 Missouri state champions jerseys. Four times he earned a top five finish in National USA Cycling and is one of the few amateurs sponsored by Trek Bicycle as one of its “Great Athletes.”

Additionally, he owns the record for the fastest amateur 100-mile bike ride and worked with teammates to finish 100 miles in 3 hours, 40 minutes, or a better than 25 mph pace.

A few of his wins include the Missouri State USA Cycling Time Trial Championships (12 times), the Missouri USA Cycling Road Race Championship, the Tour of Hermann (2010, 2011, 2012 and overall Omnium champion in 2010), the 5K & 10 Time Trials for the Missouri State Senior Games (nine times), the 2010 Branson High Road Time Trial (2010), the Truman Cup Time Trial (2020) and the Buckner Burn Time Trial (2010).

All of this by a man who found the time to train and compete during his 33-year career as the circuit court judge in Lawrence County in southwest Missouri. He had earned degrees from the University of Missouri in 1976 and 1977, and a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri in 1980.

“I raced bikes in college, but put racing on the back burner while my daughters were in school because I was involved in their activities,” said Sifferman, a former four-year football letterman at Mount Vernon. “When our daughters finished high school, my wife and I agreed I could resume my cycling passion. Even though I was in my late 40s, I was still fast on the bike and soon became immersed in competitive cycling.”

His journey began in 2005, and a year later Sifferman won the Missouri Senior Games in the 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer trim trials and 20K and 40K road races, qualifying for the National Senior Games Championships the following year. It was there where he broke his pelvis in three places, with a surgeon later suggesting that he end his career.

Months later, he rode his bike to his parents’ farm.

“My dad said, ‘It’s good you’re back on the bike. Are you going to win the next national championship in two years in San Francisco?’” Sifferman said. “I had not considered that possibility and asked my dad, ‘Do you think I can win it?’ My dad said, ‘You can if you will.’”

Those words fueled Sifferman, who earned two golds at the National Senior Games Championships two years later and set a national record of 6:43 for the men’s 55 to 59 age category in the 5K time trial.

The victories continued mounting. In 2019, he set the national 5K record for men ages 65-69 and established the all-time national 5K record for all ages and all categories, with a time of 5:52.5.

Along the way, he turned his success into a fundraiser for local youth athletics and once rode from California to Georgia.

Looking back, Sifferman had the support of his parents, Ruby and Paul, and his wife, Debbie, and their daughters Kayla, Raegan and Shawn.

“When I first began my competitive cycling career, there were few local cyclists to train with and compete against,” Sifferman said. “The sport of cycling has been growing, and I hope that I can be an example to encourage others to join the cycling community or to begin some other athletic activity they enjoy.”