Rachel Morris (born 25 April 1979) is a British Paralympic sportswoman who has won Paralympic gold medals in both cycling and rowing. She took a gold medal at 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 ...

as a handcyclist, and eight years later at Rio she won gold in the women's single sculls as a rower.

Background

She lost both her legs to

Complex regional pain syndrome Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is any of several painful conditions that are characterized by a continuing (spontaneous and/or evoked) regional pain that is seemingly disproportionate in time or degree to the usual course of any known trau ...

and cycles, in part, to manage the pain. She was born in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, Surrey.

Career

Cycling

Morris won two gold medals at the 2007 World Para-cycling Championships in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

, France; she won the time trial and road race events in the women's category B races. This made her the first ever British hand-cyclist to be crowned a double World Champion. Morris was named to the team for

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Great Britain sent a delegation of around 400, of which 212 were athletes, to compete in eighteen sports at the Games. The team was made up of athletes ...

, where she competed in the

road race Road racing, road race of road racer may refer to: * Road racing in motorsport * Road running on foot * Road bicycle racing * ''Road Race'', initial name of 1976 arcade game ''Fonz'' (video game) * Roadracers (1994 film) * Roadracers (1959 fi ...

and

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

in the HC A/B/C disability category for athletes who use a

handcycle A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually havin ...

. She finished sixth in the road race but won the gold medal in the time trial; her time of 20 minutes 57.09 seconds was nearly three minutes faster than her nearest competitor. At the 2010 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships held in

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau (; 2021 city population 20,687; CA population 26,643) is a city located approximately north-east of Quebec City in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River ne ...

, Canada, Morris won two gold medals. Her first came in the H3 category individual time trial; she won the event by over two minutes in a time of 23 minutes 34.71 seconds. Morris won her second gold medal in the road race, beating silver medallist Sandra Graf by over 80 seconds. Morris was selected to compete for

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great ( ...

, where she was aiming to defend her title in the time trial and also to compete in the road race. In July 2012 her participation at the Games was placed in doubt after she was hit by a car during a time trial near her home in Farnham, Surrey. The incident left her with whiplash and shoulder injuries. In addition to her physical injuries Morris' handcycle was damaged in the crash, meaning she had to use her competition bike for training and order a new one for use in the Paralympics. She recovered in time to compete in her first event at the Games on 5 September. In the H1-3 road race at the Games, Morris and team-mate

Karen Darke Karen Darke, , FRSGS (born 25 June 1971) is a British paralympic cyclist, paratriathlete, adventurer and author. She competed at the 2016 Rio Paralympics winning Gold in the Women's road time trial, following her success in the 2012 London Par ...

crossed the line together whilst holding hands in order to tie for third place and share the bronze medal: however the photo finish revealed that Morris arrived at the line first, so she alone was awarded third.

Rowing

She subsequently took up rowing, in the ASW1x (arms and shoulders women's single sculls) event, came 5th at the

2014 World Rowing Championships The 2014 World Rowing Championships were the 44th edition of the World Rowing Championships and were held from 24 to 31 August 2014 at Bosbaan, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the second occasion on which the event had been held in Amsterdam, or ...

in Amsterdam, and won the silver medal at the

2015 World Rowing Championships The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette in France. Description The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the In ...

Lac d'Aiguebelette Lac d'Aiguebelette is a natural lake in the commune of Aiguebelette-le-Lac, within the department of Savoie, France. Geography Description With a surface area of 5.45 km2 and a depth of 71 meters it is one of the largest natural lakes of F ...

in France, thus qualifying for 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 Septe ...

. Morris took the gold in the single sculls event at the Games. However Morris was forced to give up the sport after undergoing two shoulder operations after the Games, after which she spent almost a year in hospital recovering.

Skiing

After speaking with former rowing team-mate-turned-cross-country skier Scott Meenagh, Morris turned her attention to skiing, first trying a sit ski in March 2018 and taking up

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

in November of that year. She made her debut at the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in 2019 in

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, with a population of 74,004 in the metropolitan area. It is often called the province's "northern capital" or sometimes the "spruce capital" because it is the hub city for ...

Honours

Morris 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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(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 celebrat ...

for services to rowing.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Rachel 1979 births Living people English female rowers English female cyclists British female cross-country skiers Paralympic rowers for Great Britain Paralympic cyclists for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Guildford Members of the Order of the British Empire World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in cycling Paralympic medalists in rowing