Brandie O’Connor (born 24 December 1973) is a vision impaired Australian paracyclist and has won medals at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games..

Personal

O'Connor was born on 24 December 1973 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. She was born with

rod monochromatism Achromatopsia, also known as Rod monochromacy, is a medical syndrome that exhibits symptoms relating to five conditions, most notably monochromacy. Historically, the name referred to monochromacy in general, but now typically refers only to an au ...

which affects her ability to see. O’Connor describes her condition, "what I see at 6 meters, ‘normal’ eyes see at 60 meters." She has a Bachelor of Commerce and works as a policy officer.

Career

In 2006, O’Connor started training and identified a pilot (person who is fully sighted and steers the bike) in Kerry Knowler. Breaking her

clavicle The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the rig ...

and two

rib In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...

s in a cycling accident this put O’Connor out of action until late 2007. O’Connor tried adaptive rowing and tried for the Beijing Paralympics but missed out. She made her international cycling debut at the 2010 UCI Paracycling Road World Championships in Canada. In 2012, she competed at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and finished fourth in the Women's Individual Time Trial and fifth in the 3 km Pursuit. With pilot Breanna Hargrave, she won silver medals in the Women's Tandem Sprint and Tandem 1 km Time Trial at the 2014 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships. O'Connor and Hargrave won bronze medals in the Women's Tandem Sprint B and Women's Tandem 1 km Time Trial B at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. At the 2015, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apledoorn,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, O'Connor and Hargrave won a silver medal in the Women’s Tandem Sprint and fifth in the Women 1 km Time Trial.

References

External links

Cycling Australia profileAustralian Paralympic Committee profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Brandie 1973 births Living people Paralympic cyclists for Australia Paralympic cyclists with a vision impairment Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia ACT Academy of Sport alumni Australian female cyclists Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Australian blind people Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Cyclists from Brisbane Sportswomen from Queensland