Helen Sarah Scott, (born 25 July 1990) is an English sprint cyclist. As well as competing as part of the Great Britain team Scott is also an able-bodied

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

cyclist, who since 2011 has acted as pilot for

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

Aileen McGlynn Aileen McGlynn (born 22 June 1973) is a Scottish paralympic tandem champion cyclist, tandem piloted until 2009 by Ellen Hunter but most regularly piloted by Helen Scott. Biography Born in Paisley and grew up in Glasgow, McGlynn was partia ...

Sophie Thornhill Sophie Thornhill, (born 9 February 1996) is a visually impaired English former racing cyclist who competed in para-cycling tandem track events. She is a double world champion, with pilot Rachel James, and a double Commonwealth gold medallist, ...

and Alison Patrick.

Biography

Scott was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England in 1990. A keen sportsperson from a young age, her interest in cycling was sparked when her parents moved to

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and from ...

when she was 10, with Scott joining the local cycling club. Scott was accepted into

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

to study a degree in Sport, PE and Coaching Science in 2008. She only spent two weeks in Birmingham, leaving after being informed that she had been offered a place at British Cycling's Sprint Academy. As a member of the Sprint Academy, Scott represented the British team at national level. In 2009, she was part of the winning women's Team Sprint at the National Track Championships. In 2010 Scott joined the GB Para-Cycling Team, and was given the role of pilot to three-time Paralympic gold medalist

. In 2011 the two competed in the B1km Time Trial at the Para-Cycling Track World Championships in

Montichiari Montichiari (Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on December 27, 1991. The town is home to the Gabriele D'Annunzio airport (Italian: ''Aer ...

, Italy taking silver. They followed this in 2012 by entering the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships held in Los Angeles in the United States. They took three silver medals at the Championships, in B3km Pursuit silver, B1km Time Trial and B Sprint. Scott took part in her first

Summer Paralympic Games The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...

in 2012, again partnered with McGlynn. The pair entered both the Women's 1 km time trial B and the Women's individual pursuit B. In the time trial, Scott and McGlynn, took to the

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate Track tran ...

as the penultimate racers and posted the fastest time with 1.09.469; only for the current World Champions, Australia's

Felicity Johnson Felicity Jane Johnson (born 30 May 1971) is an Australian Paralympic tandem cyclist, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Personal Felicity Jane Johnson ...

and Stephanie Morton to record a Paralympic record of 1:08.919 in the last trial, leaving Scott and McGlynn with the silver medal. In the individual pursuit Scott and McGlynn finished third in the preliminaries, setting them up for a bronze medal decider with British team-mates Lora Turnham and her pilot

Fiona Duncan Fiona is a feminine given name. The name is associated with the Gaelic traditions of Ireland and Scotland (through the poetry of James Macpherson), but has also become popular in England.. It can be considered either a Latinised form of the Gael ...

. Scott and McGlynn finished a second quicker, taking the bronze medal, their second medal of the games. Scott teamed up with

for 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 ...

. The pair won gold in the visually impaired tandem sprint when they defeated McGlynn and Louise Haston of Scotland 2–0 in the final and followed it up with a second gold in the kilo time trial. At the

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

Scott and Thornhill won gold in the 1km time trial B and bronze in the individual pursuit B. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to cycling. Scott reunited with McGlynn for the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympic ...

, where the pair won the silver medal in the 1km time trial B.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Helen 1990 births Living people English track cyclists English female cyclists Paralympic sighted guides Paralympic cyclists of Great Britain Paralympic medalists in cycling Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands Members of the Order of the British Empire Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games