Record 12-medal haul for Para cyclists at Super Worlds

The 9-strong New Zealand Para Cycling Team rounded out their 2023 World Championships with the final day of road racing. While no extra medals were won today, the team are celebrating, with a record 12 medals across the Championships.

Coach Damian Wiseman explains:

“12 medals across the team is a truly remarkable achievement. We’re over the moon! Our athletes here have shown incredible tenacity, grit and skill to get to where we are today, and we are so proud of them.”

Wiseman continues:

“We’ve never had back-to-back track and road Para Cycling World Championships before, with no rest days in between. Glasgow 2023 has been the test for the ‘Super Worlds’ model. That’s shown us some new challenges of 11 days of continuous racing, and we’ll take away learnings from it.”

Highlights of the Championships

Across the track and road elements of the World Championships, we’ve seen Nicole Murray and Anna Taylor crowned world champions. 62-year-old Eltje Malzbender showed us she has no plans to slow down with silver medals in both her races. We saw young talent shine with 19-year-old Devon Briggs carrying off no fewer than 4 medals. 18-year-old Ben Westenberg blasted onto the Para cycling scene. He landed a silver and a bronze at his first major international competition.

Paralympian Nicole Murray shares:

“I’m proud and exhausted, Its been a long racing season and I can’t wait to come home. We’ve all had to dig deep through the ups and downs of the last 11 days. We gave our absolute best. It’s been hard and I’m looking forward to some downtime. Thank you to everyone for the support.”

Programme Manager Brendon Cameron believes the result here bodes well not only for Paris 2024, but also for the long-term future of Para cycling in New Zealand.

“Para cycling in New Zealand has gone from strength to strength. There is plenty of great young talent coming through as well.”

In today’s racing, we saw a tenacious Nicole Murray hanging on to claim 5th place after an early break separated the C5 medallists from the rest of the competitors. There was an early retirement for an exhausted Anna Taylor in the C4 race. Sarah Ellington placed 11th in the C2 race. Earlier in the men’s racing, we saw Devon Briggs place 18th in the C3. Nick Blincoe placed 17th in the C4 race.

What do the classifications mean in Para cycling?

Classification groups Para cyclists with an eligible impairment into sports classes, according to how much their impairment affects their ability to carry out the fundamental activities in their sport.

• Para athletes who are able to use a standard bicycle (with approved adaptations) compete in the five sport classes C1-5. Sport class C1 is allocated to athletes with the most severe activity limitation. Sport class C5 is allocated to athletes with minimum impairments. The C1-5 sport classes include athletes with limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or range of motion and impairments affecting co-ordination. These include uncoordinated movements and involuntary movements.
• Para cyclists who have a visual impairment race on a tandem bicycle with a sighted cyclist (pilot) at the front. They cycle in the sports class B. This class will include athletes with a range of visual impairment from a low visual acuity (less than 6/60) and/or a visual field of less than 20 degrees through to athletes with no vision.
• Para athletes who ride a tricycle are unable to ride a bicycle safely due to impairment affecting their balance and coordination. They are divided into two classes, T1 and T2. The sport class T1 is allocated to athletes with more significant balance and co-ordination impairments and problems controlling movements than athletes competing in sport class T2.
• There are five different sport classes for handcycle racing. The lower numbers indicate a more severe activity limitation. Para athletes competing in the H1 classes have a complete loss of trunk and leg function and limited arm function, e.g. as a result of a spinal cord injury. Para athletes in the H4 class have limited or no leg function, but good trunk and arm function. Para cyclists in sport classes H1 – 4 compete in a reclined position. Para cyclists in the H5 sport class sit on their knees because they are able to use their arms and trunk to accelerate the handcycle. Para athletes in this sport class might have leg amputations, paraplegia or mild to moderate involuntary and uncoordinated movements.

About the World Championships

The UCI Cycling World Championships have been dubbed the ‘Super Worlds’ as they bring together 13 different World Championships in various cycling disciplines into one massive event in Glasgow, Scotland. The Para cyclists first competed in track events, and contested road events from Wednesday 9^th August through to Sunday 13^th August.