Neil Fachie

Neil Michael Fachie OBE (born 12 March 1984) is a Scottish cyclist and former track athlete, competing in events for people with a visual impairment.[1] 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.

Neil Fachie
OBE
Barney Storey and Neil Fachie, 2010
Personal information
Full nameNeil Fachie
Born (1984-03-12) 12 March 1984
Aberdeen, Scotland
EducationUniversity of Aberdeen
Sport
Country United Kingdom
SportAthletics
Cycling
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals2008
2012
Medal record
Men's para cycling
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place2012 LondonTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2020 TokyoTandem B kilo
Silver medal – second place2012 LondonTandem B sprint
Silver medal – second place2016 Rio de JaneiroTandem B kilo
Track World Championships
Gold medal – first place2009 ManchesterTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2009 ManchesterTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2011 MontichiariTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2011 MontichiariTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2014 AguascalientesTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2014 AguascalientesTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2015 ApeldoornTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2015 ApeldoornTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2016 MontichiariTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2016 MontichiariTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2018 Rio de JaneiroTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2018 Rio de JaneiroTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2019 ApeldoornTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2020 MiltonTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2022 Saint-Quentin-en-YvelinesTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2023 GlasgowTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2023 GlasgowTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2023 GlasgowTandem B team sprint
Silver medal – second place2012 Los AngelesTandem B kilo
Silver medal – second place2017 Los AngelesTandem B kilo
Silver medal – second place2017 Los AngelesTandem B sprint
Silver medal – second place2019 ApeldoornTandem B kilo
Silver medal – second place2020 MiltonTandem B sprint
Representing  Scotland
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2014 GlasgowTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2014 GlasgowTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2018 Gold CoastTandem B kilo
Gold medal – first place2018 Gold CoastTandem B sprint
Gold medal – first place2022 BirminghamTandem 1 km time trial B
Silver medal – second place2022 BirminghamTandem sprint B

Career history

Fachie was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1984. Fachie, who has a congenital eye condition, retinitis pigmentosa, studied physics at Aberdeen University. There he took up athletics and at the age of 24 he qualified for the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, running in the 100m and 200m sprints.[2] After failing to take a podium place in either races in China, Fachie decided to change sports to cycling.

The strength Fachie had built up during his time as a sprinter was instrumental in impressing the Great Britain cycle coaches.[2] By September 2008 he was training with the GB Para-Cycling Team and was part of the team by April the following year.[2] In 2009 he entered the Para-Cycling Track World Championships, with Barney Storey as his pilot. The two took the Gold in both the Kilo and Sprint, setting a new world record in the Kilo. In 2011 Fachie travelled to Montichiari, Italy to compete in his second Para-Cycling Track World Championships. This time paired with Craig MacLean, he again achieved gold in both the Kilo and Sprint, setting a new world record in the Sprint.[2]

Fachie entered his third Para-Cycling Track World Championships, this time held in Los Angeles, USA. His pilot in America again was Storey, who would team up with Fachie at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The pair took the silver in the Kilo. That year, in the Paralympics, Fachie and Storey competed in the Men's 1 km time trial for riders with a visual impairment. The pair set a world record time of 1:01.351, and after team mates and main rivals Anthony Kappes and Craig MacLean suffered a mechanical failure, took the gold medal.[3]

Fachie was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to para-cycling.[4][5] In June 2013, he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen by the Duchess of Rothesay.[6]

Fachie teamed up with Pete Mitchell for the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The pair won the gold medal in the tandem 1km time trial, and broke the world record set by Fachie and Storey at the 2012 Paralympics by setting a time of 59.460 seconds, becoming the first tandem pairing to clock a sub-minute time for the kilo time trial.[7] They subsequently won a second gold in the tandem sprint.[8]

Fachie reunited with Craig MacLean for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where the pairing won double gold in the kilo time trial and sprint B tandem.[9][10]

Fachie, piloted by Matt Rotherham, successfully defended his kilo time trial and sprint B tandem titles at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia. In doing so he equaled the record for the most number of Commonwealth Gold medals. He shares the record of 4 golds with sprinter Allan Wells and lawn bowler Alex Marshall. [11]

At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Fachie won gold in the men's time trial B alongside Rotherham.[12]

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to cycling.[13]

In 2022 Neil Fachie won Scotland's first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games in the tandem 1 km time trial B event.[14] He also won a silver medal in the tandem sprint B event.[15]

Personal life

He is married to visually impaired English racing cyclist Lora Fachie.[16]

See also

References
  1. "Neil Fachie". paralympics.org.uk. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  2. "Neil Fachie". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  3. "Paralympics 2012: Fachie & Storey win tandem gold". BBC Sport. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  4. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 24.
  5. "NY13-London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games" (PDF). gov.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  6. "HRH The Duchess of Rothesay joins University 'family'". University of Aberdeen.
  7. McDaid, David (12 April 2014). "Para-cycling Track Championships 2014: GB win two gold medals". BBC. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  8. McDaid, David (14 April 2014). "Para-cycling Track Championships 2014: Storey wins second gold". BBC. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  9. "Glasgow 2014: Fachie & Maclean land cycling gold for Scotland". BBC. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  10. "Glasgow 2014: Second gold for Neil Fachie and Craig Maclean". BBC. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  11. "Commonwealth Games: Scot Neil Fachie wins historic fourth gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  12. "Cycling Track – Men's B 1000m Time Trial – Results" (PDF). olympics.com. TOCOG. 28 August 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  13. "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B12.
  14. "Fachie wins gold as Kenny helps England to bronze". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  15. "Wales' Ball beats Fachie to tandem sprint gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  16. "Fachie puts child plans on hold for Paras". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
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