Mandy Marquardt

Born in Germany, Mandy grew up in Plantation, Florida. She was active with swimming, running and playing tennis, and wanted to compete in triathlons. She began competitively cycling at the age of 10 at the Brian Piccolo Velodrome in nearby Cooper City, selecting the track because it was a safe place to learn. Within a short amount of time and coached by Mike Fraysse and Betsy Davis, she went on to win two gold medals in the criterium and time trial at the 2003 U.S. Junior Women’s 10-12 Road National Championships, and a silver medal in the road race. She was hooked on cycling.

In 2007, at the age of 16, Mandy moved back to Germany to live with her father. She continued to compete in many endurance road and track cycling events for the German state of Baden-Württemberg. A year later, she was undergoing routine V02 max testing and bloodwork when they found she had elevated blood sugar levels. Mandy spent the next two weeks in the hospital where she was then diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. A doctor told her she would never be able to compete at a high level again, and she has since proven that wrong and what is possible with diabetes. In 2010, she moved back to Florida to live with her mother to dial in racing with diabetes, complete her high school senior year and apply to college.

Mandy was encouraged to focus on track cycling, so she took the leap in 2012, at age 21, and began focusing on sprinting. As part of the USA Cycling National Team, she has raced internationally at the Pan-American Championships, UCI World Cups, and UCI World Championships. She currently holds the standing 500m and team sprint national records. The 18-time U.S. National Champion resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She races for Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first-all diabetes professional cycling team and trains alongside Edge Cycling. Mandy graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 2014 with a Bachelors of Science in Business Management and Marketing. She is an ambassador for many organizations, and is passionate about being a role model for young girls worldwide as well as for everyone affected by diabetes.