Rachel Morris (cyclist)

Rachel Morris MBE (born 25 April 1979) 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.

Rachel Morris
MBE
Personal information
Born25 April 1979 (1979-04-25) (age 44)
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Women's para cycling
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing   Time trial HC A/HC B/HC C
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London Road race H1–3
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Bordeaux Time trial B
Gold medal – first place 2007 Bordeaux Road race B
Gold medal – first place 2010 Baie-Comeau Individual time trial H3
Gold medal – first place 2010 Baie-Comeau Road race
Women's para rowing
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio Single sculls
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Lac d'Aiguebelette Single sculls

Background

She lost both her legs to Complex regional pain syndrome and cycles, in part, to manage the pain.[1] She was born in Guildford, Surrey.[2]

Career

Cycling

Morris won two gold medals at the 2007 World Para-cycling Championships in Bordeaux, France; she won the time trial and road race events in the women's category B races.[3][4] This made her the first ever British hand-cyclist to be crowned a double World Champion.[3]

Morris was named to the team for Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, where she competed in the road race and time trial in the HC A/B/C disability category for athletes who use a handcycle.[5][6] She finished sixth in the road race but won the gold medal in the time trial; her time of 20 minutes 57.09 seconds was nearly three minutes faster than her nearest competitor.[5][7][8]

At the 2010 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships held in Baie-Comeau, Canada, Morris won two gold medals.[5] Her first came in the H3 category individual time trial; she won the event by over two minutes in a time of 23 minutes 34.71 seconds.[9] Morris won her second gold medal in the road race, beating silver medallist Sandra Graf by over 80 seconds.[10]

Morris was selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where she was aiming to defend her title in the time trial and also to compete in the road race.[11][12] In July 2012 her participation at the Games was placed in doubt after she was hit by a car during a time trial near her home in Farnham, Surrey.[13][14][15] The incident left her with whiplash and shoulder injuries.[14][15] In addition to her physical injuries Morris' handcycle was damaged in the crash, meaning she had to use her competition bike for training and order a new one for use in the Paralympics.[11] She recovered in time to compete in her first event at the Games on 5 September.[16] In the H1-3 road race at the Games, Morris and team-mate Karen Darke crossed the line together whilst holding hands in order to tie for third place and share the bronze medal: however the photo finish revealed that Morris arrived at the line first, so she alone was awarded third.[17]

Rowing

She subsequently took up rowing, in the ASW1x (arms and shoulders women's single sculls) event, came 5th at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, and won the silver medal at the 2015 World Rowing Championships at Lac d'Aiguebelette in France, thus qualifying for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Morris took the gold in the single sculls event at the Games.[18] However Morris was forced to give up the sport after undergoing two shoulder operations after the Games, after which she spent almost a year in hospital recovering.[19]

Skiing

After speaking with former rowing team-mate-turned-cross-country skier Scott Meenagh, Morris turned her attention to skiing, first trying a sit ski in March 2018 and taking up cross-country skiing in November of that year. She made her debut at the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in 2019 in Prince George, British Columbia.[19]

Honours

Morris was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to rowing.[20]

References
  1. Williams, Ollie (16 September 2011). "Rachel Morris: Racing against her own body". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  2. "Rachel Morris:Team GB". The Telegraph online. 26 August 2011. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. "World golds for Stone and Morris". BBC Sport. 28 August 2007.
  4. "GB Cycling Team Rider Biography: Rachel Morris". British Cycling. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  5. "Rachel Morris". British Paralympic Association. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. "Disciplines – Para-Cycling". Canadian Cycling Association. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  7. Aikman, Richard (12 September 2008). "Cyclists trio take GB gold medal haul to 30". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  8. "More cycling success for Britain". BBC Sport. 12 September 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  9. "Sarah Storey wins World Paracycling Road Championships". BBc Sport. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  10. "Double gold for GB cyclists at World Paracycling Champs". BBC Sport. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  11. "Rachel Morris says injury has shattered her medal hopes". BBC Sport. 12 July 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  12. Davies, Gareth A. (26 June 2012). "London 2012 Paralympics: Great Britain para-cycling squad for Games named". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  13. "Paralympic cyclist Rachel Morris in fitness fight after car accident". BBC Sport. 10 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  14. Walker, Peter (10 July 2012). "Paralympic cycling medal hopeful may miss Games after being hit by car". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  15. Davies, Gareth A. (10 July 2010). "London 2012 Paralympics: hand-cyclist Rachel Morris may miss Games after car crash". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  16. Addley, Esther (5 September 2012). "Paralympic handcyclist lines up to race nine weeks after being hit by car". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  17. Gallagher, Brendan (7 September 2012). "Paralympics 2012: GB's Rachel Morris beats team-mate Karen Darke to road race bronze in photo finish". telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  18. "Rio Paralympics 2016: Rachel Morris leads triple gold for GB's rowers". bbc.co.uk. 11 September 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  19. Hudson, Elizabeth (17 February 2019). "Rachel Morris: Paralympic cycling and rowing champion targets skiing". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  20. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N21.
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