Mark Lee Colbourne MBE (born 9 November 1969) is a former

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

-cyclist, who competed for both

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and Great Britain.

Early life

Colbourne was born on 9 November 1969 in

Tredegar Tredegar (; ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial R ...

, Monmouthshire, Wales. He played volleyball at international level for Wales between 1990 and 1993. He broke his back in 2009 after falling when forced into an emergency landing whilst

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

Cycling career

Following his accident Colbourne began cycling through Disability Sport Wales. He competes in the C1 classification for riders on upright bikes with the most severe disability. He trained with disabled cycling coach Neil Smith at the Newport Velodrome and made his first appearance in a track race in May 2010 at the Wales Grand Prix. In 2011 he won his first UCI Para-Cycling World Cup medals. He took bronze in the C1 time trail in

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

, Spain at his debut at World Cup level. At the round in

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...

, Canada, he won the silver medal in the same event behind Juan Jose Mendez Fernandez of Spain. His first World Championship medal was a silver at the 2011 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships held in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

, Denmark. In 2012 Colbourne won his first world title, taking the gold medal in the C1 3 km individual pursuit at the 2012 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles, United States. At the same Championships he won the silver medal in the C1 1 km time trial. He was selected as part of the cycling team for

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The c ...

. On 30 August 2012 Colbourne won a silver medal and Great Britain's first medal of the

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

, in the C1-3 1 km time trial. On 31 August 2012 he won a gold medal in the C1 3 km individual pursuit after breaking the world record in both the qualification round and the final. He is scheduled to compete in two road cycling events; the C1 road time trial, on 5 September; and the C1-3 road race on 6 September. Colbourne 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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 celebrati ...

for services to cycling. In August 2013 Colbourne announced his retirement from para-cycling.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colbourne, Mark 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Tredegar Welsh men's volleyball players Welsh male cyclists British male cyclists Paralympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Welsh disabled sportspeople Members of the Order of the British Empire UCI Para-cycling World Champions Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Welsh Paralympic competitors Paralympic medalists in cycling

Early life

Cycling career

See also

References