 Unwin at the 2024 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Sophie Beth Unwin 23 July 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Discipline | Track, Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sophie Beth Unwin (born 23 July 1994) is an English racing cyclist who competes in para-cycling tandem road and track events as a visually impaired athlete. She made her first Paralympic appearance representing Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and was again selected for the British team in 2024.
Unwin began paracycling after attending an open talent event in August 2020. [1] She won the bronze medal in the individual pursuit at the 2020 Summer Paralympics alongside Jenny Holl. She also partnered with Holl to claim silver in the women's road race B event during the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
They won the gold medal in the tandem B time trial at the 2021 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. [2]
She represented England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and competed in the women's tandem event. She finished third in the competition however, no bronze medal was awarded as the minimum five entries did not compete, after a late withdrawal from the fifth entered team. [3] This prompted Unwin to protest against the decision to not award her a bronze medal despite finishing third. [4] She along with her pilot Georgia Holt attempted to stand behind the podium ceremony with the flag of England before being escorted/moved by a security staff member and as a result Unwin was subsequently fined for breaching the code of conduct and she left the scene with tears. [5] [6]
On 22 July 2024 it was announced that Unwin had been selected for the British team for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, her second Games. [7] She competed in both road and track cycling disciplines and medalled in all four of her events, all piloted by Jenny Holl. The first of these medals, a bronze, came on 30 August in the women's 1000 m time trial B. A second medal, her first Paralympic gold, came two days later in the women's 3000 m pursuit B. In the road time trial B on 4 September she claimed silver, beating fellow British pairing Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall, who won bronze. Unwin won a second gold medal of the Games in the women's road race B. [8]
Unwin was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to cycling. [9]
Aileen McGlynn is a Scottish paralympic tandem champion cyclist, tandem piloted until 2009 by Ellen Hunter but most regularly piloted by Helen Scott.
Elizabeth Gemma Clegg, is a British Paralympic sprinter and tandem track cyclist who has represented both Scotland and Great Britain at international events. She represented Great Britain in the T12 100m and 200m at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning a silver medal in the T12 100m race. She won Gold in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games in 100m T11 where she broke the world record and T11 200m, beating the previous Paralympic record in the process, thus making her a double Paralympic champion.
Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The country finished third in the medals table, behind China and Russia, winning 120 medals in total; 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze. Multiple medallists included cyclist Sarah Storey and wheelchair athlete David Weir, who won four gold medals each, and swimmer Stephanie Millward who won a total of five medals. Storey also became the British athlete with the most overall medals, 22, and equal-most gold medals, 11, in Paralympic Games history.
Jessica Gallagher is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, tandem cyclist and rower. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to win a medal at the Winter Paralympics at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, where she won a bronze medal in the women's giant slalom visually impaired.
Rachel Morris is a British Paralympic sportswoman who has won Paralympic gold medals in both cycling and rowing. She took a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics as a handcyclist, and eight years later at Rio she won gold in the women's single sculls as a rower.
Olivia Breen is a Welsh Paralympian athlete, who competes for Wales and Great Britain mainly in T38 sprint and F38 long jump events. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics and was selected for the T38 100m and 200m sprint and was also part of the T35-38 women's relay team. She has also represented Wales at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games winning gold in the F38 Long Jump in 2018 and gold in the T37/38 100m in 2022.
Neil Michael Fachie is a Scottish cyclist and former track athlete, competing in events for people with a visual impairment. Fachie has competed in two Paralympics, as a sprinter in the 2008 Games in Beijing and as a tandem cyclist in London 2012. In London he won the gold medal in the Men's individual 1 km time trial and silver in the individual sprint, both with Barney Storey as his sighted pilot. Outside of the Paralympic Games, Fachie is a nineteen-time world champion and 5 times Commonwealth Games champion, creating tandem partnerships with Barney Storey, Pete Mitchell, and Olympians Craig MacLean and Matt Rotherham.
Karen Darke,, FRSGS is a British paralympic cyclist, paratriathlete, adventurer and author. She competed at the 2016 Rio Paralympics winning Gold in the Women's road time trial, following her success in the 2012 London Paralympics winning a silver medal in the Women's road time trial H1-2.
Helen Sarah Scott, is an English sprint cyclist. As well as competing as part of the Great Britain team Scott is also an able-bodied tandem cyclist, who since 2011 has acted as pilot for Paralympian Aileen McGlynn, Sophie Thornhill and Alison Patrick.
Sophie Thornhill, is a visually impaired English former racing cyclist who competed in para-cycling tandem track events. She is a double world champion, with pilot Rachel James, and a double Commonwealth gold medallist, with pilot Helen Scott, in the tandem sprint and 1 km time trial events. In April 2014, she set world records in the tandem sprint and 1 km time trial, piloted by James. She retired from competition in 2020.
Kate O'Brien is a Canadian female track cyclist and former bobsledder. She won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
Kadeena Cox is a parasport athlete competing in T38 para-athletics sprint events and C4 para-cycling and British television presenter. She was part of the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships and the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, in which she won world titles in the T37 100m and C4 500m time trial respectively.
Madison Janssen is an Australian cyclist. She is a world champion, multiple national champion and a world record holder. In May 2016 she was named as part of the Australian cycling team as the sighted pilot for Jessica Gallagher for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, where they won a bronze medal in the Women's 1000m time trial.
Lora Marie Fachie, is a visually impaired English racing cyclist who competes in para-cycling tandem road and track events. She is a double world champion, with pilot Corrine Hall, in the tandem road race and 1 km time trial events.
Stephen Stanley Bate is a New Zealand–British Paralympic cyclist who competes in tandem races as an athlete with a visual impairment. Since 2014, Bate has been piloted by Adam Duggleby. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the pair won gold in the men's individual pursuit B and men's road time trial B, and bronze in the men's road race B.
Great Britain competed in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. Originally scheduled to take place between 21 August and 6 September 2020, the Games were postponed to 24 August to 5 September 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. British athletes have competed at all sixteen consecutive Summer Paralympics since 1960.
Jennifer Anne Holl is a Scottish professional racing cyclist. Originally from Scotland, Holl moved to Manchester in 2017.
Sophie Ellen Capewell is a British professional racing cyclist. She won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the team sprint.
Cycling at the 2022 Commonwealth Games was held between 29 July and 7 August 2022 at four different venues. There were 26 events altogether in cycling, making the sport third-highestt in terms of number of medals available. There were 20 events in track cycling, two in mountain biking, two in road time trials and two in road racing.
The women's tandem sprint B at the 2022 Commonwealth Games was part of the cycling programme, and took place on 29 July 2022.
