Kieran John Modra (27 March 1972 – 13 November 2019) was an Australian Paralympic swimmer and tandem cyclist. He won five gold and five bronze medals at eight Paralympic Games from 1988 to 2016, along with two silver medals at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Early life

Modra was born in the South Australian town of

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

on 27 March 1972 as the third of four children, and became visually impaired due to congenital juvenile

optic atrophy Optic neuropathy is damage to the optic nerve from any cause. The optic nerve is a bundle of millions of fibers in the retina that sends visual signals to the brain. Damage and death of these nerve cells, or neurons, leads to characteristic featu ...

. He grew up on a farm in Greenpatch, about north of Port Lincoln, and attended high school at Immanuel College. His sister, Tania Modra, piloted Sarnya Parker in tandem cycling at the 2000 Sydney Games, where the pair won two gold medals.

Career

231000 - Cycling track Kerry Modra Kieran Modra action 2 - 3b - 2000 Sydney race photo

Modra began

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

ing in 1987 and won the pole vaulting competition at the 1989 Australian All-School Championships. He competed in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics where he competed in the Men's 1500 m B3 and Men's Javelin B3. He took up

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

to aid his recovery from a knee injury, and began competing in the sport in 1990. At the 1992 Paralympics in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, where he competed in both athletics and swimming, he won two bronze medals in the Men's 100 m Backstroke B3 and Men's 200 m Backstroke B3 events. Modra then switched to

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

cycle racing in 1995, because it was a "mode of transport". At the 1996 Atlanta Games, where he was piloted by his future wife Kerry Golding, he won a gold medal in the Mixed 200 m Sprint Tandem open event. In 1998 and 1999, he held an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

Athletes with a Disability scholarship. At the 1998

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 ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

with pilot Kerry Modra, he won gold medals in the Mixed Tandem Sprint B, Mixed Tandem Time Trial B and Mixed Individual Pursuit B. He competed in the 2000 Sydney Games, but did not win any medals at those Games. Modra's pilot, Kerry, was pregnant with the couple's first child at the games, and fainted due to low blood pressure during a quarter-final sprint race; Modra's sister,

Tania Tania is usually a given name. It may refer to: Given name * Tânia Alves, Brazilian actress and singer * Tania Brishty, Bangladesh actress and model * Princess Tania de Bourbon Parme, French designer * Tania de Jong, Dutch-born Australian sopran ...

, was his pilot for the rest of the games. At the 2002 IPC World Cycling Championships in Altenstadt, Germany with pilot Darren Harry, he won gold medals in the Men's Tandem Sprint Time Trial and Men's Tandem 1 km Time Trial. Leading up to the

2004 Athens Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, Modra was piloted by David Short and Robert Crowe for sprint and endurance events, respectively. Shortly before the games, he was evicted from the Australian cycling team due to a successful appeal to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

by fellow tandem cyclist Lyn Lepore, on the grounds that she deserved her place in the team because when each of Modra's pilot–rider combinations was counted separately, she had a higher rank than Modra. The day before the opening ceremony, the

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

successfully appealed to the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

to give Modra an extra place in the team. At the 2004 games, he won two gold medals, in the Men's Individual Pursuit Tandem B1–3 event, in which he broke a world record with a time of 4:21.451, and the Men's Sprint Tandem B1–3 event, and a bronze medal in the Men's Road Race / Time Trial Tandem B1–3 event. In the second of the three races in the individual sprint semi-final, Modra and Short fell off their bike after its front tyre rolled off the wheel. Despite having skin torn off their arms, legs and shoulders in the fall, they won the third semi-final race and rode in the final 45 minutes later, where they won the gold medal. The individual pursuit (B&VI 1–3) world record was broken by Modra and

Tyson Lawrence Tyson John Lawrence, OAM (born 9 June 1978) is an Australian Paralympic tandem cycling pilot, who worked with Kieran Modra at the 2008 Beijing Games. At the games, he won a gold medal in the Men's Individual Pursuit B VI 1-3 event, for which ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

on 21 August 2007, in a time of 4:20.891. He broke his own world record in the preliminary round of the individual pursuit (B&VI 1–3) with a time of 4:18.961, piloted by Lawrence, they broke the record again in the final with a time of 4:18.166. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics 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 was ...

, Modra represented Australia with Lawrence in the 1 km time trial (B&VI 1–3) and individual pursuit (B&VI 1–3) events, winning a bronze and gold medal, respectively. In 2011 Modra made a return to the bike with new pilot Scott McPhee where they won gold in the tandem B&VI 4 km pursuit at the 2011 Montichiari UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships setting a new world record of 4:17.780. They placed 2nd at the Sydney road world cup in the tandem road race and 3rd in the tandem road time trial at the 2011 Segovia world cup. In the lead up to the road world championships in September Modra suffered a broken collarbone and fractured hip due to a fall in training. His recovery was swift and he returned to the bike a month later to win the Oceania 4 km pursuit championship. In December 2011, he collided with a car while cycling to work, breaking two vertebrae in his neck and one in his spine; this accident hampered his preparations for the 2012 London Games. He won a gold medal at the games in the Men's Individual Pursuit B with McPhee. At the 2014

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes (; ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Aguascalientes), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and ...

, Mexico, he teamed with pilot

Jason Niblett Jason Niblett (born 18 February 1983 in Horsham, Victoria) is an Australian professional racing cyclist. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. Niblett served as pilot to Kieran Modra at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Gla ...

to win the silver medals in the Men's Sprint B and Men's B 1 km Time Trial. With pilot Jason Niblett, he won two silver medals in the Men's tandem sprint B and Men's tandem time trial at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. At the 2016 Montichiari UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, Modra won gold with pilot David Edwards in the Men's Tandem 4 km Pursuit. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, Modra and his pilot David Edwards won the bronze medal in the Men's Road Time Trial B. His other results were sixth in the Men's Individual Pursuit B and fifth in the Men's Road Race B.

Personal life

57 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Cycling Kieran Modra Kerry Golding

Modra married Kerry Golding in May 1997, whom he met at a friend's 21st birthday party, and they had three daughters.

Death

Modra died after he was hit by a car travelling in the same direction on the

Sturt Highway Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions situated adjacent to the r ...

in Kingsford on 13 November 2019. He was cycling from

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

to his uncle and aunt's house near Tanunda to join a ride with them in the

Clare Valley The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...

Recognition

Modra received the following awards: *1997:

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

*2000:

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

*2004: Australian Male Paralympian of the Year *2011:

South Australian Institute of Sport Sport plays an important role in the business, community, social and cultural life in South Australia. Sport as entertainment plays an important role with South Australia having the second highest rate of event attendance of all states and terri ...

Athlete with a Disability of the Year with Scott McPhee. *2014: Appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2014

Australia Day Honours The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively int ...

"For significant service to sport as an athlete representing Australia at Paralympic Games, and to people who are blind or have low vision" *2014:

Male Athlete with a Disability of the Year with

References

External links

* * *
Kieran Modra interviewed by Rob Willis in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Modra, Kieran 1972 births 2019 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic cyclists Australian male cyclists Blind people from Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Cycling road incident deaths Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Cyclists from South Australia Male Paralympic swimmers of Australia Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Members of the Order of Australia Paralympic athletes of Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic cyclists of Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in cycling Paralympic medalists in swimming People educated at Immanuel College, Adelaide People from Port Lincoln Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Road incident deaths in South Australia Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Paralympics UCI Para-cycling World Champions Visually impaired category Paralympic competitors Athletes from Adelaide Australian male backstroke swimmers