Sophie Thornhill
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Born | [1] Poynton, Cheshire, England[2] | 9 February 1996|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 60 kg (132 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Current team | Boot Out Breast Cancer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Track | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Stoker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rider type | Sprinter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SportCity Velo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Professional team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boot Out Breast Cancer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sophie Thornhill, MBE (born 9 February 1996)[1] 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, with pilot Helen Scott, in the tandem sprint and 1 km time trial events. In April 2014, she set world records in the tandem sprint and 1 km time trial, piloted by James. She retired from competition in 2020.
Biography
[edit]Thornhill comes from Poynton near Stockport in Cheshire. She attended Poynton High School, also attended by para-cyclist Sarah Storey,[1][3] and Loughborough College.[4] She has only 7–9% vision owing to oculocutaneous albinism, which causes visual impairment.[1][3] She met the para-cyclist Anthony Kappes, also visually impaired, via her uncle; he encouraged her to train as a track cyclist.[1][3]
Thornhill started racing as an adult in May 2013, aged 17.[1] She raced as the stoker on the back of a tandem, with the front position occupied by a pilot with normal vision.[3] She was initially piloted by English cyclist Helen Scott, with whom she won three British events.[3] In September 2013, she switched to the Welsh cyclist Rachel James as her pilot.[5] Her international debut came with James in December at the International Paracycling Cup in Newport, Wales, where the pair won two gold medals; their time of 1:09.446 in the 1 km time trial missed the world record by 0.73 seconds.[5][6]
Her first major international competition was the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, in April 2014.[1][7][8] Thornhill and James won the gold medal in the tandem 1 km time trial; their time of 1:05.912 broke the world record by a little under 3 seconds.[9] The pair won gold in the sprint, beating the New Zealand pair Emma Foy and Laura Fairweather 2–0 in the semi-final, and the Australian pair Brandie O'Connor and Breanna Hargrave 2–0 in the final.[1][10][11] They also broke the world record in the qualifying round of the sprint with a flying start time over 200 metres of 10.854 seconds.[1][12]
Thornhill was selected for the English team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, where para-cycling appeared for the first time;[13][14] at 18, she was the track cycling team's youngest member.[citation needed] As James was competing for the Welsh team, Thornhill returned to Scott as her pilot to compete in the tandem sprint and 1 km time trial events.[13][14] The pair won the gold medal in the sprint, beating the Australian Paralympic champion Felicity Johnson and pilot Holly Takos 2–0 in the semi-final, and the Scottish pair Aileen McGlynn and Louise Haston 2–0 in the final.[15][16][17] They set the Commonwealth record during qualification, with a time of 11.277 seconds.[16][18] The pair also won gold in the 1 km time trial, with a time of 1:08.187, a Commonwealth Games record.[18][19][20] They beat silver medallists McGlynn and Haston by more than 1.5 seconds.[19][20] Sarah Storey commented: "They had a superbly executed start – they have worked so hard on that aspect of their training – and with the turbo intervals they have done they were able to bring it home strongly."[21]
Thornhill reunited with James to compete in the 2014 British National Track Championships in September, where they won the mixed time trial[22] and the 200-metre flying start time trial for blind and visually impaired riders.[23]
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics Thornhill won gold in the 1km time trial B[24] and bronze in the individual pursuit B,[4] on both occasions alongside Helen Scott.
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to cycling.[25]
In June 2020, Thornhill announced her retirement from competition, after the 2020 Summer Paralympics were delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She indicated that she would focus on her educational career, taking up a place to study history at Manchester Metropolitan University in September.[26]
Palmarès
[edit]- 2014
- 1st Tandem B 1km time trial, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships (with Rachel James)
- 1st Tandem B sprint, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships (with Rachel James)
- 1st Tandem B sprint, 2014 Commonwealth Games (with Helen Scott)
- 1st Tandem B 1km time trial, 2014 Commonwealth Games (with Helen Scott)
- 1st Para Cycling BVI mixed time trial, British National Track Championships (with Rachel James)
- 1st Para Cycling BVI 200m flying start time trial, British National Track Championships (with Rachel James)
- 2015
- 1st Tandem B sprint, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships (with Helen Scott)[27]
- 1st Para Cycling BVI 200m mixed standing start time trial, British National Track Championships (with Helen Scott)[28]
- 1st Para Cycling BVI 200m flying start time trial, British National Track Championships (with Helen Scott)[29]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i "GB Cycling Team Rider Biography: Sophie Thornhill", britishcycling.org, retrieved 23 July 2014
- ^ "Sophie Thornhill: Biography", Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, retrieved 23 July 2014
- ^ a b c d e Hudson, Elizabeth (31 December 2013), "Paralympic sport's ones to watch for 2014", BBC, retrieved 23 July 2014
- ^ a b "RIO 2016: SECOND PARALYMPIC MEDAL FOR LOUGHBOROUGH COLLEGE CYCLIST SOPHIE THORNHILL". Loughborough College. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ a b Hudson, Elizabeth (9 April 2014), Tandem riders Sophie Thornhill & Rachel James target World medals, retrieved 23 July 2014
- ^ Anonymous (30 November 2013), "Double world cycling champion Becky James aims to retain titles in 2014", WalesOnline, retrieved 23 July 2014
- ^ McDaid, David (12 April 2014), "Para-cycling Track Championships 2014: GB win two gold medals", BBC, retrieved 23 July 2014
- ^ McDaid, David (14 April 2014), "Para-cycling Track Championships 2014: Storey wins second gold", BBC, retrieved 23 July 2014
- ^ Anonymous (11 April 2014), "Communique #47: Results: Women's B 1km Time Trial Final", UCI, retrieved 28 July 2014[permanent dead link]
- ^ Anonymous (13 April 2014), "Communique #125: Official Results Finales / Final + 3rd–4th Ride: Women's Sprints", UCI, retrieved 28 July 2014[permanent dead link]
- ^ Anonymous (13 April 2014), "Communique #115: Official Results Demi-Finales / Semi-final, Heats 1–2: Women's Sprints", UCI, retrieved 28 July 2014
- ^ Anonymous (13 April 2014), "Communique #102: Official Results: Women's B Sprints Qualification", UCI, retrieved 28 July 2014
- ^ a b Hudson, Elizabeth (22 July 2014), "Glasgow 2014: The athletes seeking disability 'key role'", BBC, retrieved 22 July 2014
- ^ a b Anonymous (21 July 2014), "Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014: England's team", BBC, retrieved 23 July 2014
- ^ Anonymous (24 July 2014), "Glasgow 2014: England's Thornhill & Scott win tandem gold", BBC, retrieved 24 July 2014
- ^ a b Hobro, Scott (24 July 2014), "Thornhill and Scott strike gold for Team England as Glasgow Commonwealth Games begin", britishcycling.org, retrieved 25 July 2014
- ^ Anonymous (24 July 2014), "Results: Cycling track: Women's Sprint B2 Tandem Finals – Race 1", Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, retrieved 27 July 2014
- ^ a b Anonymous (24 July 2014), "Results: Cycling track", Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, retrieved 27 July 2014
- ^ a b Anonymous (27 July 2014), "Results: Cycling track: Women's 1000m Time Trial B2 Tandem", Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, retrieved 27 July 2014
- ^ a b Anonymous (27 July 2014), "Glasgow 2014: Gold for England in the women's 1,000m time trail", BBC Sport, retrieved 27 July 2014
- ^ Anonymous (27 July 2014), "Glasgow 2014: Thornhill and Scott win gold for England", BBC Sport, retrieved 27 July 2014
- ^ "British National Track Championships 24th–28th September 2014: Communiqué No 008" (PDF). trackworldcup.co.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- ^ "National Track Championships: Jess Varnish powers to sprint title". bbc.co.uk. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ^ "Womens B 1000m Time Trial Schedule & Results – Paralympic Cycling Track". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N24.
- ^ Ballinger, Alex (17 June 2020). "British Paralympic star Sophie Thornhill announces retirement, aged 24". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ Hope, Nick (29 March 2015). "Para-cycling Worlds: Fachie and Thornhill claim sprint titles". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "British National Track Championships 25th-27th September 2015: Communiqué No 015: Category Mixed Para Cycling BVI: Event Standing Start Time Trial: Round Final Result" (PDF). British Cycling. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "British National Track Championship 25th-27th September 2015: Communiqué No 047: Category Female: Event 200m Flying Start TT: Round Final Result" (PDF). British Cycling. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
External links
[edit]- 1996 births
- Living people
- English female cyclists
- Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
- Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain
- Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain
- People from Poynton
- Sportspeople from Cheshire
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University
- Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games