Neil Michael Fachie (born 12 March 1984) is a Scottish cyclist and former track athlete, competing in events for people with a

visual impairment Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

. Fachie has competed in two

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 ...

, as a sprinter in the 2008 Games in Beijing and as a

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 ...

cyclist in

London 2012 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 ...

. In London he won the gold medal in the Men's individual 1 km time trial and silver in the individual sprint, both with Barney Storey as his sighted pilot. Outside of the Paralympic Games, Fachie is a nineteen-time world champion and 5 times Commonwealth Games champion, creating tandem partnerships with Barney Storey, Pete Mitchell, and Olympians

Craig MacLean Craig MacLean MBE (Grantown-on-Spey, July 31, 1971) is a Scottish track cyclist who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, winning a silver medal in the ...

and

Matt Rotherham Matthew Rotherham (born 7 December 1994) is a British male track cyclist. Following a career as an elite abled bodied cyclist, he transferred to Paralympic track cycling as a sighted pilot in the visually impaired (B) classification. In 2021, he ...

Career history

Fachie was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Scotland in 1984. Fachie, who has a congenital eye condition,

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a member of a group of genetic disorders called inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) that cause loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visua ...

, studied physics at

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

. There he took up athletics and at the age of 24 he qualified for the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

in Beijing, running in the 100m and 200m sprints. After failing to take a podium place in either races in China, Fachie decided to change sports to cycling. The strength Fachie had built up during his time as a sprinter was instrumental in impressing the Great Britain cycle coaches. By September 2008 he was training with the GB Para-Cycling Team and was part of the team by April the following year. In 2009 he entered the Para-Cycling Track World Championships, with Barney Storey as his pilot. The two took the Gold in both the Kilo and Sprint, setting a new world record in the Kilo. In 2011 Fachie travelled to Montichiari, Italy to compete in his second Para-Cycling Track World Championships. This time paired with

, he again achieved gold in both the Kilo and Sprint, setting a new world record in the Sprint. Fachie entered his third Para-Cycling Track World Championships, this time held in Los Angeles, USA. His pilot in America again was Storey, who would team up with Fachie 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 ...

in London. The pair took the silver in the Kilo. That year, in the Paralympics, Fachie and Storey competed in the Men's 1 km time trial for riders with a visual impairment. The pair set a world record time of 1:01.351, and after team mates and main rivals

Anthony Kappes Anthony Edward Kappes MBE (born 1 March 1973) is an English road and track racing cyclist and Paralympian. Biography Born in Stockport, Cheshire, Kappes is partially sighted and competes in the B&VI 1–3 class. He is the current World reco ...

and

suffered a mechanical failure, took the gold medal. 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

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 para-cycling. In June 2013, he was awarded an honorary degree from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

by the

Duchess of Rothesay Duke of Rothesay ( ; ; ) is the main dynastic title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the Scottish and, later, British thrones. The dukedom was created in 1398 by Robert III of Scotland for his eldest son. Duke of Rothesay is ...

. Fachie teamed up with Pete Mitchell for the 2014

UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships The UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships are the world championships for track cycling where athletes with a physical disability compete, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The Championships were earlier administered by ...

Aguascalientes Aguascalientes, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and with an average altitude of above sea level it is pre ...

, Mexico. The pair won the gold medal in the tandem 1km time trial, and broke the world record set by Fachie and Storey at the 2012 Paralympics by setting a time of 59.460 seconds, becoming the first tandem pairing to clock a sub-minute time for the kilo time trial. They subsequently won a second gold in the tandem

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

. Fachie reunited with Craig MacLean for the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

in Glasgow, where the pairing won double gold in the kilo time trial and sprint B tandem. Fachie, piloted by

, successfully defended his kilo time trial and sprint B tandem titles at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

in the Gold Coast,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In doing so he equaled the record for the most number of Commonwealth Gold medals. He shares the record of 4 golds with

Allan Wells Allan Wipper Wells (born 3 May 1952) is a British former track and field sprinter who became the 100 metres Olympic champion at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In 1981, he was both the IAAF Golden Sprints and IAAF World Cup gold medall ...

and

lawn bowler Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

Alex Marshall. 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 men's time trial B alongside Rotherham. He was appointed

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 ...

for services to cycling. In 2022 Neil Fachie won Scotland's first gold medal of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

in the tandem 1 km time trial B event. He also won a silver medal in the tandem sprint B event.

Personal life

He is married to visually impaired English racing cyclist Lora Fachie.

References

External links

Neil 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, Neil 1984 births Living people Scottish male cyclists British male cyclists Scottish track cyclists British track cyclists Paralympic cyclists for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in cycling Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics 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 Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games UCI Para-cycling World Champions Sportspeople from Aberdeen Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Aberdeen People educated at Oldmachar Academy 21st-century Scottish sportsmen Commonwealth Games silver medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games gold medallists in cycling

Career history

Personal life

See also

References

External links