Jody Alan Cundy, (born 14 October 1978) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

and former swimmer. He has represented Great Britain at seven Summer Paralympics winning eight Gold, one Silver and three Bronze medals across swimming and cycling events. He has also competed in multiple World Championships, winning 22 world titles (19 in Cycling and 3 in Swimming.) The most recent coming at the World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France October 2022.

Personal history

Cundy was born in

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland Port of Wisbech, port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bord ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

to Alan, a fitter-welder, and Ann, an accountancy clerk. He grew up in Norfolk along with his younger brother Ashley. Cundy was born with a deformed foot, which was amputated when he was three years old. Cundy attended the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

, based in Hatfield, where he was also a member of the town's swimming club. On 12 October 2012, Cundy was awarded an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...

with a ceremony at the

Cambridge Corn Exchange Cambridge Corn Exchange is a concert venue located in Cambridge, England with a capacity up to 1,681 people. Construction The site, on the corner of Wheeler Street and Corn Exchange Street, was earmarked for a new Corn Exchange in 1868 to repl ...

Swimming career

When Cundy was aged 10, his parents met a disabled girl's parents and they discussed disability swimming. After some research, Cundy's parents decided to get him involved. Cundy showed early potential, breaking swimming records for his age group. After become a leading member of his local King's Lynn club's team, he made his international debut at the Swimming World Championships in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in 1994. He improved his personal best by four seconds and won the world 100m butterfly title. However, he later said that he was "never a naturally gifted swimmer. I don't have the build. I just worked very hard: 10 or 11 two-hour sessions in the pool each week, and weights and core strength work – 30 hours-plus a week." He later represented Great Britain three times in swimming at the Paralympic Games from 1996 to 2004, winning three gold and two bronze medals."Paralympic challengers: Jody Cundy"
, BBC, 2 September 2008 After a 2004

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Paralympic Games that landed him a bronze medal, Cundy joined the high-performance swimming centre at

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Cycling career

In 2006, he switched from swimming to cycling, competing at international events in the C4 disability category. Winning gold in the kilo in his debut at the 2006 world championships, he repeated this feat in 2007 and 2009 also taking the team sprint title at both events. Since switching to cycling he has been based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

where he trains with the Great Britain Cycling squad. Representing Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Cundy broke the world record on the way to winning the gold in the 1km Time Trial with a time of 1 minute 5.466 seconds. This made him one of only a handful of athletes that have become Paralympic champion in two different sports. He was selected for the Great Britain team at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. He was expected to win gold in the C4/5 Men's 1 km time trial, but slipped shortly after starting, which he argued was due to the starting gate not working properly. The technical delegate of the International Cycling Union, Louis Barbeau, disagreed, refusing him a restart. Cundy then erupted into a rage, swearing and throwing water bottles. He later apologised to the crowd, though made clear that he still disagreed with the decision. He won bronze in the C4 men's 4 km pursuit, racing Diego Gomez of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. In the first kilometre of the race, he clocked a time of 1:05.317 in the heats, which would have won the 1 km time trial. Cundy aimed to qualify for the England team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but he abandoned this hope after placing fifth among English competitors and eighth overall in the 1km time trial at the 2013

British National Track Championships The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national cha ...

, despite setting a new personal best and a world record for the C4 category. Subsequently, he won gold at the 2014

UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships The UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships are the world championships for track cycling where athletes with a physical disability compete, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The Championships were earlier administered by t ...

in Aguascalientes in the C4 1 km time trial, earning his ninth world title and breaking his own world record with a time of 1:01.466. In 2015 and 2016, Cundy remained undefeated in the 1 km TT. In addition to his 2016 Kilo Gold Medal, he became a double world champion with British Cycling teams mates

Louis Rolfe Louis Rolfe (born 21 July 1997) is a British Paralympic track cyclist competing in C2 classification events. Rolfe came to note as a cyclist during the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships where he was part of the gold medal-winni ...

and

Jon-Allan Butterworth Jon-Allan Edward Butterworth JAB H4H bio
H4H bio.

winning in a new world record time at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Montichari, Italy in March. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, Cundy regained his Kilo Paralympic title in a new Paralympic record of 1:04.492 which when factored for C4 athletes gave a winning time of 1:02.473 In the final track cycling event of the 2016 Summer Paralympics Cundy teamed up with Louis Rolfe and Jon-Allan Butterworth to take the Mixed Team Sprint C1-5 gold medal in a world-record time of 48.635. Cundy 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 2009 New Year Honours for services to disabled sport, and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to cycling and swimming. At the 2020 Paralympic games in Tokyo, he took home the Silver in the C4-5 1 km Time Trial behind Spanish C5 Athlete Alfonso Cabello. Two days later he teamed up with

Kadeena Cox Kadeena Cox (born 10 March 1991) is a parasport athlete competing in T38 para-athletics sprint events and C4 para-cycling and British television presenter. She was part of the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships and the 2016 UCI Para- ...

and Jaco van Gass to take Gold, in a new WR time of, 47.579 in the C1-5 Mixed 750m Team Sprint ahead of the current world champions China. In winning his silver medal at the Tokyo Paralmypics he became the first male Great British athlete to medal at 7 consecutive Paralympic Games. Cundy was appointed

Commander 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 ...

(CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to cycling.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cundy, Jody 1978 births Living people People from Wisbech Alumni of the University of Hertfordshire People associated with Anglia Ruskin University English male swimmers English male cyclists Paralympic swimmers of Great Britain Paralympic cyclists of Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Commanders of the Order of the British Empire World record holders in paralympic swimming UCI Para-cycling World Champions English amputees Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in cycling Paralympic medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics British male butterfly swimmers British male backstroke swimmers S10-classified Paralympic swimmers