Neil Michael Fachie (born 12 March 1984) is a Scottish

Paralympic 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 ...

multiple sports athlete competing in events for individuals with a

visual impairment Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

. Fachie has entered two Paralympics, as a sprinter in the 2008 Games in Beijing and as a

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 in

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In London he won the gold medal in the Men's individual 1 km time trial and silver in the individual sprint, both with Barney Storey as his sighted pilot.

Career history

Fachie was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland in 1984. Fachie, who has a congenital eye condition,

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may ...

, studied physics at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. There he took up athletics and at the age of 24 he qualified for 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 f ...

in Beijing, running in the 100m and 200m sprints. After failing to take a podium place in either races in China, Fachie decided to change sports to cycling. The strength Fachie had built up during his time as a sprinter was instrumental in impressing the Great Britain cycle coaches. By September 2008 he was training with the GB Para-Cycling Team and was part of the team by April the following year. In 2009 he entered the Para-Cycling Track World Championships, with Barney Storey as his pilot. The two took the Gold in both the Kilo and Sprint, setting a new world record in the Kilo. In 2011 Fachie travelled to Montichiari, Italy to compete in his second Para-Cycling Track World Championships. This time paired with

Craig MacLean Craig MacLean MBE (Grantown-on-Spey, July 31, 1971) is a Scottish track cyclist who has represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, winning a silver medal in ...

, he again achieved gold in both the Kilo and Sprint, setting a new world record in the Sprint. Fachie entered his third Para-Cycling Track World Championships, this time held in Los Angeles, USA. His pilot in America again was Storey, who would team up with Fachie 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 London. The pair took the silver in the Kilo. That year, in the Paralympics, Fachie and Storey competed in the Men's 1 km time trial for riders with a visual impairment. The pair set a world record time of 1:01.351, and after team mates and main rivals Anthony Kappes and

suffered a mechanical failure, took the gold medal. Fachie 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

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were 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 are awarded as part of the New Year celebrat ...

for services to para-cycling. In June 2013, he was awarded an honorary degree from the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

by the

Duchess of Rothesay Duke of Rothesay ( ; gd, Diùc Baile Bhòid; sco, Duik o Rothesay) is a dynastic title of the heir apparent to the British throne, currently William, Prince of Wales. William's wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, is the current Duchess of Ro ...

. Fachie teamed up with Pete Mitchell for 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, Mexico. The pair won the gold medal in the tandem 1km time trial, and broke the world record set by Fachie and Storey at the 2012 Paralympics by setting a time of 59.460 seconds, becoming the first tandem pairing to clock a sub-minute time for the kilo time trial. They subsequently won a second gold in the tandem sprint. Fachie reunited with Craig MacLean for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where the pairing won double gold in the kilo time trial and sprint B tandem. Fachie, piloted by Matt Rotherham, successfully defended his kilo time trial and sprint B tandem titles at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, Australia. In doing so he equaled the record for the most number of Commonwealth Gold medals. He shares the record of 4 golds with sprinter

Allan Wells Allan Wipper Wells (born 3 May 1952) is a Scottish former track and field sprinter who became the 100 metres Olympic champion at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Within a fortnight of that, he also took on and beat America's best sprinter ...

and lawn bowler Alex Marshall. At 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 ...

, Fachie won gold in the men's time trial B alongside Rotherham. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to cycling. In 2022 Neil Fachie won Scotland's first gold medal of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in the tandem 1 km time trial B event. He also won a silver medal in the tandem sprint B event.

Personal life

He is married to visually impaired English racing cyclist Lora Fachie.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fachie, Neil 1984 births Living people Scottish male cyclists Scottish track cyclists Paralympic cyclists of Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Scotland Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games UCI Para-cycling World Champions Sportspeople from Aberdeen Officers of the Order of the British Empire Paralympic medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games

Career history

Personal life

See also

References

External links