Jody Cundy MBE
Jody was born with a deformed right foot which was amputated at the age of three. He was then fitted with an artificial leg and hasn’t looked back since. At the age of five he had his first swimming lesson with his school and ended up being rescued from the bottom of the pool by a fully clothed parent! After that his parents enrolled him into the local swimming club where he learnt to swim.
At the age of 10 he raced for the first time for Kings Lynn swimming club and his international debut came in 1994, representing Great Britain at the World Swimming Championships. He took 4 seconds off his best time to surprise everyone and take the gold medal in the 100m Butterfly, the first of 23 (14 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze) international medals he would win in a swimming career spanning 10 years.
Watching Chris Boardman on the Lotus bike in Barcelona in 1992 and following Chris and Graeme Obree while they duelled out the one hour record fuelled Jody’s interest in cycling. In 2005 his career path changed after a ride on the boards of the Newport Velodrome where potential was first spotted and in 2006 Jody entered the National Track Championships in Manchester and broke the British record for the flying 200.
While still swimming on the GB team Jody was invited to a time trial for a place on the 2006 Paralympic World Cup team after his times in training attracted the interest of the GB Para-Cycling Team. This was a success and he was offered a place to ride in the Team Sprint alongside Darren Kenny and Mark Bristow, setting a new world record. After that race he hung up his trunks and goggles and made the transition to the GB Para-Cycling Team.
In the summer of 2006 Jody won his first individual gold medal at the Track World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland, breaking the world record in the process. From that victory he has gone on to become the fastest solo Paralympian on a bike and won multiple medals on the world stage. He is also one of only a handful of athletes that have become Paralympic champions in two different sports. Jody has broken a number of World Records and regularly competes in domestic able-bodied events.
At the 2012 Paralympic Games, a start gate incident denied Jody the chance of defending his kilo title after the commisaires refused a restart. Jody won the bronze medal in the pursuit event.
Jody’s sporting hero is Michael Jordan and his sporting ambition is to push the boundaries in para-cycling and show the world what is possible with a disability. He is also determined to win Paralympic Gold on home soil at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.
In 2009 Jody was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours list for his services to disability sport. He describes himself as honest, focused and patient. His training tips are: work hard, give one hundred percent one hundred percent of the time and, above all, enjoy your sport. In his spare time, Jody enjoys the cinema, music, Moto GP and when he gets the chance power kiting.
Website: www.jodycundy.com
