James Brown is a former Northern Irish paralympic-cyclist, who competed for Great Britain, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. He is visually impaired and participated in five

Paralympic Games 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 ...

in various sports. Brown earned two gold medals at the

1984 Summer Paralympics The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, canonically the 1984 Summer Paralympics were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. There were two separate competitions: one in Stoke Mandeville, England, United Kingdom for wheelchair athletes ...

in athletics and a bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in the men's road time trial with sighted pilot

Damien Shaw Damien Shaw (born 10 July 1984) is an Irish former professional cyclist, who rode professionally for in 2016 and 2017, and in 2018. As well as competing individually on the roads, Shaw was a tandem pilot at the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Track Worl ...

Paralympic career

Brown is visually impaired from birth and began cycling at the age of five and running at the age of 13 while attending the Royal National College for the Blind. Following instruction in skiing, he joined the British Paralympic Team for the 1982 Disabled Alpine World Championships. He later worked at the Royal National College for the Blind as a volunteer

guide runner A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Expl ...

, including at the World Youth Games for the Disabled. At the

in New York City, Brown won two gold medals in athletics for Great Britain in the 800-metre and 1500-metre. He later participated in several other editions of the Summer and Winter Paralympics in other events, including

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

and the biathlon. Brown planned to enter the

2008 Paralympic Games The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It wa ...

as a cyclist, but missed the games because of an injury. The following year, he joined the Irish team and began his partnership with sighted pilot

in 2011. At the

2012 Paralympic Games The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

, Brown and Shaw won a bronze medal in the men's road time trial B. The pair had also finished fourth in the men's individual pursuit B and ninth in the men's 1 km time trial B. He later represented Northern Ireland 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 ...

, partnering with

Dave Readle Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

in the men's tandem sprint B and men's tandem time trial B, finishing fifth in both events. Brown was banned from competition from 2016 to 2018 by Sport Ireland and Cycling Ireland for violating anti-doping rules, to which he admitted.

Personal life

Brown retired from sport in 2015 and joined Mobiloo, a social enterprise that aims to provide portable toilets that are accessible for the disabled. He has since participated in several Extinction Rebellion protests and has been arrested several times for non-violent civil disobedience; he has cited his daughter for inspiring his climate change activism. On 10 October 2019, he climbed on the fuselage of a British Airways plane at London City Airport as part of Extinction Rebellion's takeover of the airport. At a subsequent court hearing, he denied the charge of causing a public nuisance and was granted conditional bail by a district judge that barred him from being within of an airport. On 28 July 2021, following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, Brown was convicted of causing a public nuisance. Presiding judge Gregory Perrins set a sentencing hearing for 17 September. On 24 September 2021, he was given a prison term of one year. In February 2022, Brown was found guilty of aggravated trespass after he climbed on top of a High Speed 2 drilling rig in February 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James Irish male cyclists 1960s births Living people Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Ireland Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic cyclists for Ireland Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in cycling Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople convicted of crimes Extinction Rebellion Environmentalists from Northern Ireland Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales