Louis Rolfe (born 21 July 1997) is a British

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 ...

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

competing in C2 classification events. Rolfe came to note as a cyclist during the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships where he was part of the gold medal-winning British team sprint event along with fellow cyclists

Jon-Allan Butterworth Jon-Allan Edward Butterworth MBE JAB H4H bio
H4H bio. ...

and

Jody Cundy Jody Alan Cundy (born 14 October 1978) is a British cyclist and former swimmer from Wisbech, England. He has represented Great Britain at eight Summer Paralympics winning nine Gold, one Silver and three Bronze medals across swimming and cycling ...

Personal history

Rolfe was born in 1997 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England. He was born ten weeks premature and has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

and

hydrocephalus Hydrocephalus is a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up within the brain, which can cause pressure to increase in the skull. Symptoms may vary according to age. Headaches and double vision are common. Elderly adults with n ...

. He attended Coleridge Community College and Parkside Community College from 2008 to 2013.

Cycling career

Rolfe was inspired to take up para-sport after being inspired by the events of the

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

and

Paralympics 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 ...

in London. In December 2012 he attended a para-festival where he was tested by Great Britain Cycling Team coaches. Rolfe was subsequently accepted onto the British Para-cycling Development Programme. He was classified as a C2 classification cyclist and was part of the Great Britain team at the 2015 Newport Para-cycling International. In Newport he won a silver as part of the men's team sprint and a bronze in the 3 km sprint, and was selected to represent his country at the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

in the Netherlands. The World Championships provided experience for Rolfe and he finished fifth as a part of the team sprint, seventh in the 1 km time trial and 10th in the individual pursuit. In 2016, in the buildup to the

Rio 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 ...

, Rolfe represented Britain at his second Track World Championships, this time in Montichiari. Rolfe entered both the individual pursuit and the time trial, winning a bronze medal in the latter. Originally he was not part of the Team sprint as the line-up was intended to be

Jon-Allan Butterworth Jon-Allan Edward Butterworth MBE JAB H4H bio
H4H bio. ...

Kadeena Cox Kadeena Cox (born 10 March 1991) is a parasport athlete competing in T38 para-athletics sprint events and C4 para-cycling and British television presenter. She was part of the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships and the 2016 UCI Para-cyc ...

and

, but prior to the Championship Cox was reclassified and Rolfe was brought in as a late replacement. Despite never having raced together, the three posted a final time of 49.268 to win the gold and set a new world record time. In August 2016 Rolfe was named as part of the Great Britain team for 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 September 2016 at the Rio Paralympics Louis won bronze in the individual pursuit 3000m in the C2 class and gold in the 750m team sprint C1-C5 with

Jon-Allan Butterworth Jon-Allan Edward Butterworth MBE JAB H4H bio
H4H bio. ...

and

in a world record time of 48.635 Seconds having already posted the previous record in qualifying. On 31 December 2016 Rolfe 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 List for services to cycling.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolfe, Louis 1997 births Living people English male cyclists British male cyclists English track cyclists British track cyclists Sportspeople from Cambridge UCI Para-cycling World Champions Cyclists with cerebral palsy Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire Paralympic medalists in cycling Paralympic cyclists for Great Britain 21st-century English sportsmen