Lora Marie Fachie (née Turnham; born 4 September 1988) is a visually impaired English former

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

who competed in

para-cycling Para-cycling (or paracycling/para cycling) is the sport of cycling (sport), cycling adapted for cyclists who have various disability, disabilities. It is governed by the (UCI). The sport consists of seven different events which include Road bicy ...

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

road and track events. She is a double world champion, with pilot

Corrine Hall Corrine Claire Hall (born 20 February 1991) is an English cyclist. She represented Great Britain in the 2016 Rio Paralympics as a sighted pilot for British cycling Paralympian, Lora Fachie with whom she was paired in 2013. Early life and edu ...

, in the tandem road race and 1 km time trial events.

Personal life

Fachie was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England in 1988. Fachie has a hereditary sight loss condition which also affects her two brothers, Roy and Mark, and her mother. At the age of five she lost her sight, leaving her only with light perception. She now uses a guide dog. Fachie attended Gateacre School in Liverpool as a child and matriculated to the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

where she studied physiotherapy. She is married to fellow Paralympian

Neil Fachie Neil Michael Fachie (born 12 March 1984) is a Scottish cyclist and former track athlete, competing in events for people with a visual impairment. Fachie has competed in two Paralympics, as a sprinter in the 2008 Summer Paralympics, 2008 Games i ...

Cycling career

Fachie comes from a sporting family, both her brothers have represented England in VI (visually impaired) cricket and Roy played 5-a-side football for Great Britain at the

2012 Summer 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 ...

. Fachie first became involved in cycling in 2009 whilst at university. That year she was teamed up with sighted rider

Rebecca Rimmington Rebecca Rimmington (born 14 January 1983 in Grantham, England) is an English sportsperson, a competitive cyclist and former tandem pilot for blind and visually impaired riders. Early life Beckie Rimmington attended the National School, and bri ...

and Fachie attended her first UCI Para-Cycling World Cup event, in Italy, winning bronze in the Tandem B road race. The following year she took gold, again with Rimmington, in the road race at the Spanish World Cup.

2012 Summer Paralympics

In 2011 Fachie switched pilot, now racing with Fiona Duncan. The two found success at their first major international event when they won the silver at the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari in the Pursuit. Fachie also picked up two more World Cup medals that year, a silver and bronze, in Sydney. Fachie and Duncan spent another season together, taking gold in the time trial at the World Cup 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. Fachie's results saw her selected for the

in London, selected for both road and track events. On the road Fachie finished 7th in the

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

and 8th in the road race. The time trial was particularly disappointing for Fachie as she suffered a mechanical fault to her bike whilst holding a 14-second lead on the final lap. In the track she finished just outside the podium places in both her events, losing the bronze medal race against British teammate

Aileen McGlynn Aileen McGlynn (born 22 June 1973) is a Scottish paralympic tandem champion cyclist, tandem piloted until 2009 by Ellen Hunter but most regularly piloted by Helen Scott. Biography Born in Paisley and grew up in Glasgow, McGlynn was partia ...

in the

individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

and a fourth-place finish in the 1km time trial. Following London Fachie was paired up with a new pilot,

, and quickly her fortunes improved. At the 2013 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships 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 ...

, the pair took gold in the time trial and silver in the road race. More medals followed with a second world title at the 2014 Road World Championships, this time in the road race, with a further bronze in the time trial. 2014 also saw Turnham collect four more gold medals on the World Cup circuit, two each at

Castiglione della Pescaia Castiglione della Pescaia (; abbreviated by locals as Castiglione or Castiglioni), is an ancient seaside town in the province of Grosseto, in Tuscany, central Italy. The modern town grew around a medieval 12th century fortress () and a large fishe ...

and

. Although Fachie failed to win a medal in the 2015 World Championships, this time paired with Lauryn Therin, she was back to winning ways when reunited with Hall as they continued to win World Cup gold. A time trial title at

Yverdon-les-Bains Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Ancient Rome, Roman era) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Jura-North Vaudois District, Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It ...

in Switzerland and both the time trial and road race gold at

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

in South Africa.

2016 Summer Paralympics

In the buildup to the

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

in Rio, Fachie and Hall took part in the 2016 Track World Championships, winning bronze in the Tandem individual pursuit. Fachie then travelled to Ostend in Belgium where she took two more silver World Cup medals. The pair were later named as part of the Great Britain team to compete at the Rio Paralympics, entering four events over both road and track disciplines.

2020 Summer Paralympics

At the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, 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 Inte ...

, Fachie won gold in the women's individual pursuit B alongside Hall. 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 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

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are 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 were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to cycling and

Officer 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 ...

(OBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

, also for services to cycling.

2024 Summer Paralympics

Six months before the Paralympic Games, at the world championships Lora and her husband had their silver medals and other possessions stolen, when they were mugged in Rio. Lora was selected to compete in her fourth Paralympic Games, winning three bronze medals, in the individual pursuit, road race and time trial.

Retirement

Fachie announced her retirement from professional cycling in June 2025.

References

External links

Lora Fachie
at

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national sport governing body, governing body for cycle sport in United Kingdom, Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands a ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fachie, Lora 1988 births Living people Cyclists from Liverpool English female cyclists British female cyclists Paralympic cyclists for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Birmingham Paralympic medalists in cycling Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain 21st-century English sportswomen