Jody Cundy CBE

He was born with a deformed right foot which at the age of 3 was amputated, and subsequently he was given an prosthetic limb and hasn’t looked back since.

At the age of 5 he had his first swimming lesson with his school, which ended up with him being rescued from the bottom of the pool by a fully clothed parent!

After that experience his parents enrolled him into the local swimming club where he learnt to swim. At 10 years he raced for the first time in the colours of Kings Lynn swimming club. His international debut came 6 years later, representing Great Britain at the 1st IPC World Swimming Championships. He surprised everyone, taking 4 seconds off his personal best time to take the gold medal in the 100m Butterfly. This would be the first of 23 (14 Gold, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze) international medals he would win in a swimming career spanning 11 years.

In 2005 Jody’s career path would change when he took part in a disability open day on the boards of the Newport Velodrome. His potential was spotted by one of the coaches there and after another experience of track cycling on the track in Manchester he entered the 2005 national championships. In his first race he broke the British record for the flying 200m, after this success he began take more interest in track cycling and began to train with the Newport Velo squad who trained at the velodrome. His times from training caught the attention of the GB coaches, and he was invited to a time trial for a place on the 2006 Paralympic World Cup team.

The trial was a success, and 2 days later he rode in the team sprint alongside Darren Kenny and Mark Bristow at the Paralympic World Cup where they went on to set a new WR time. After that race he was offered a place on the Great Britain Cycling Team, and he hung up his trunks and goggles for the last time. In the summer of 2006, he won his first individual gold medal in the 1km Time Trial at the World Track Championships in Aigle Switzerland, breaking the WR in the process. From that victory he has remained unbeaten in the 1km time trial, racking up 14 world titles in the event with the most recent at the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

He currently holds the WR in the Flying 200m (10.427 (69.052 km/h), and the 1km Time Trial (1:01.466 (58.569 km/h).

In 2009 he was made an MBE for his services to Disability sport, in 2017 this was upgraded to an OBE for his services to Swimming & Cycling, and in 2022 this was upgraded again to a CBE for his services to Cycling.

In 2012 the Anglia Ruskin University made him and Honorary Doctor in Health Sciences, and a month later he was made given and Honorary Master of Science degree from the University of Hertfordshire.