Cycling community mourns,
Bankaitis-davis represented National Team in five world championships
The Boulder cycling community is mourning the 1988 U.S. Olympian and 1992 World Championship gold medalist, Danute ‘Bunki’ Bankaitis-davis, who died Jan. 29 after a long battle with cancer.
A resident of Longmont, she was 63.
Bankaitis-davis represented the U.S. National Team in five world championships times before pursuing a career in molecular biology in the mid-1990s.
One of her former teammates on the U.S. National Team, Leslee Schenk Trzcinski, knew BankaitisDavis as a fierce competitor and an “inspiration” to many.
“She was such a professional that her qualities really permeated the sport at all levels,” Schenk Trzcinski said. “All people, all competitors, all the ancillary staff of races and people all over the world just really resonated with her.”
Despite often competing against each other, Schenk Trzcinski never lost sight of the friendship they built of f the bike.
“Many, many times Bunki and I would be in a breakaway together and sometimes she would outsprint me for the win and sometimes I would outsprint her for the win,” Schenk Trzcinski said. “We were super-fierce competitors, but we were also just the best of friends and just had incredible mutual respect.”
One of Schenk Trzcinski’s favorite memories of her friend dates back to 1989 when they appeared in one of Nike’s popular “Bo Knows” commercials.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several members of the U.S. National Team lived in Boulder, including two-time Olympian Sally Zack Endestad. Both Endestad and Bankaitis-davis represented the United
States in Seoul, South Korea for the 1988 Olympics.
Endestad reminisced on the days of training and competing with Bankaitisdavis in Boulder. She said Bankaitis-davis was a highly respected cyclist of the time, and that they became close friends during and after their careers.
“She was such a respectful person and never put other people down,” Endestad said.
Four years after the Seoul Olympics, Bankaitis-davis won a 1992 gold medal in the Road World Championships and was a first alternative in her second Olympics.
Twenty-time National Champion and Canadian Olympic biker Hugh Walton said Bankaitis-davis excelled of f the bike as well.
“She was a symbol of being strong and really humble,” he said.
Equipped with a doctorate in organic chemistry that she earned prior to her racing career from the University of North Carolina, Bankaitis-davis entered the field of science following the 1992 World Championships.
She star ted of f working at the biotechnology company Amgen in Boulder and in 1998, she co-founded Source MDX, a molecular diagnostics company. During her post-racing career, she also served on the USA Cycling board of directors.
Bankaitis-davis is survived by her husband Chip and their son armen.