Jody Cundy
Jody Cundy started his amazing sports career not on the velodrome track but in the swimming pool.
Born with a deformed right foot which was amputated at the age of three, Jody was fitted with an artificial leg and hasn’t looked back since. He began racing for Kings Lynn swimming club and represented Great Britain for the first time in 1994 at the World Swimming Championships, where he took the gold medal in the 100m Butterfly.
After amassing an international medal tally of 23 (14 gold, four silver and five bronze), Cundy's career path altered. After riding the Newport velodrome, he cycled in the same year at the National Championships, breaking the British record for the flying 200.
Fast facts
- At the age of five, Cundy had his first swimming lesson with his school and ended up being rescued from the bottom of the pool by a fully-clothed parent.
- In 2009 he was made an MBE in the New Year's Honours list for his services to disability sport.
- In 2011, Cundy set up his own cycling team, the Para-T Paracycling Team, which is made up entirely of elite paracycling athletes to help promote disability sport.
Cundy’s success in his new sport continued, and he was offered a place on the team for the 2006 Paralympic World Cup. He rode in the team sprint alongside Mark Bristow and Darren Kenny, setting a new world record in the process. This was when it all changed for Cundy, as he gave up professional swimming for good and joined the British Cycling team. He went on to win his first individual gold medal in 2006 at the World Track Championships in Switzerland, breaking the world record in this too.
The 2008 Paralympic Games highlighted how successful Cundy’s switch to cycling had been. He won gold medals in both the 1km time trial and team sprint, setting new world records in both.
Jody is now one of only a handful of athletes that have become Paralympic champions in two different sports.
In 2011, in preparation for the London Olympic Games, his training shifted to higher endurance as he wanted to focus on the 4km pursuit as well as the sprint events. In March, he made an impressive debut in the 4km pursuit at the World Championships, in which he won silver.
So far, 2012 has been a mixed bag for Cundy. He retained his 1km time trial title at the World Championships, but had to settle for bronze in the 4km individual pursuit. Jody was selected in both these events for London 2012, where he was a clear favourite in the 1km and a strong medal contender in the 4km. Jody won a bronze in the 4km but missed out on a medal in the 1km after he was not allowed a restart after slipping out of the gate. This was much to the disappointment of Jody and the crowd.
