David Edwards (born 21 April 1993) is an Australian cyclist, who has found sporting success both individually and in tandem cycling. He piloted

Kieran Modra 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 Gla ...

in tandem cycling. He made his Paralympic debut at the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

Personal

Edwards was born in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, NT on 21 April 1993. He grew up in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

and Tolga, QLD and attended

Atherton State High School Atherton State High School (ASHS) is a co-educational, state secondary school in Atherton, Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. Education TAFE and Atherton High School were linked through vocational education and training programs. Howeve ...

. He is a graduate of

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

, having studied and completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science. Edwards currently cycles for Tablelands cycle sports and is coached by Nick Formosa. He also has two older sisters (Angela Brun and Emily Edwards) and two younger half brothers (Charlie and Jamie Edwards).

Career

Edwards started competing in 2006 (aged 13) and first competed for Australia in 2010.

Individual

Edwards first competed (at an international level) in 2010 at Liege – La Gleize and Rothays Regio – Tour International and before gaining his first international podium finish during the 2011 U19 UCI World Cycling Championships in Copenhagen (3rd Place). He has since competed in Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhon's Cup Tour of Thailand (3rd place), Oceania Continental Championships (5th place) and won the 2015 U23 Oceania Continental Championship road race. In 2013, Edwards was invited to join the French cycling team (AG2R La Mondiale U23). He resided in

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

, France, during his time with AG2R.

Pilot

Serving as a sighted pilot for

, the pair won multiple events. These events include; the 2016 Australian para-cycling Tandem National Championships with a winning time of 4mins 17.929secs alongside Gold in the 2016 Para-Cycling Track World Championship in Tandem 4 km Pursuit with a time of 4min 12.324secs. The pair made their

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 ...

debut at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. At the Games, they won a bronze medal in the Men's Road Time Trial B.

Charity work

In November 2016, Edwards embarked upon and completed a 10-day cycle from Brisbane to his childhood town of Atherton, a journey of 2000 km. He did this for the specific purpose of "raising awareness and funds around mental health and suicide prevention," and raised money from this for the charity

Beyond Blue Beyond Blue is an Australian mental health and wellbeing support organisation. They provide support programs to address issues related to depression, suicide, anxiety disorders and other related mental illnesses. The organisation works in par ...

. During his journey up the Queensland coast, Edwards met up with and rode with several local cycling clubs.

Major results

;2011 : 1st MaillotAustralia

Road race, National Junior Road Championships : 3rd Bronze medal uci

Time trial, UCI World Junior Championships ;2012 : 3rd Overall

Tour of Thailand The Tour of Thailand, officially the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhon's Cup Tour of Thailand is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Thailand. It was classified by the International Cycling Union as a 2.2 category race as ...

: 9th Time trial, Oceania Championships ;2015 : 5th Road race, Oceania Championships : 8th Time trial, Oceania Under-23 Championships

References

External links

*
David Edwards – Professional Cyclist
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, David 1993 births Australian male cyclists Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Living people Paralympic cyclists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic sighted guides Australian track cyclists Paralympic medalists in cycling Cyclists from Queensland Sportsmen from Queensland 21st-century Australian sportsmen