Helen Scott (cyclist)

Helen Sarah Scott, MBE (born 25 July 1990)[2] is an English sprint cyclist. As well as competing as part of the Great Britain team Scott is also an able-bodied tandem cyclist, who since 2011 has acted as pilot for Paralympian Aileen McGlynn, Sophie Thornhill and Alison Patrick.

Helen Scott
MBE

Scott wearing her medals after the 2012 Paralympics
Personal information
Full name	Helen Sarah Scott[1]
Nickname	Scottie
Born	25 July 1990 Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Team information
Current team	Boot Out Breast Cancer
Discipline	Tandem
Role	Pilot
Rider type	Sprint
Professional team
2010–	Great Britain Paracycling Team
Medal record Women's track cycling Representing  Great Britain Paralympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Tandem B kilo 2012 London Tandem B kilo 2012 London Tandem B pursuit 2016 Rio de Janeiro Tandem B pursuit UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships 2015 Apeldoorn Tandem B kilo 2015 Apeldoorn Tandem B sprint 2018 Rio de Janeiro Tandem B kilo 2018 Rio de Janeiro Tandem B sprint 2011 Montichiari Tandem B kilo 2012 Los Angeles Tandem B kilo 2012 Los Angeles Tandem B pursuit 2012 Los Angeles Tandem B sprint 2016 Montichiari Tandem B kilo 2016 Montichiari Tandem B sprint 2017 Los Angeles Tandem B sprint 2017 Los Angeles Tandem B kilo Representing  England Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow Tandem B sprint 2014 Glasgow Tandem B kilo 2018 Gold Coast Tandem B sprint 2018 Gold Coast Tandem B kilo

Biography

Scott was born in Birmingham, England in 1990.[3] A keen sportsperson from a young age, her interest in cycling was sparked when her parents moved to Halesowen when she was 10, with Scott joining the local cycling club. Scott was accepted into University of Birmingham to study a degree in Sport, PE and Coaching Science in 2008. She only spent two weeks in Birmingham, leaving after being informed that she had been offered a place at British Cycling's Sprint Academy.[2]

As a member of the Sprint Academy, Scott represented the British team at national level. In 2009, she was part of the winning women's Team Sprint at the National Track Championships.[2] In 2010 Scott joined the GB Para-Cycling Team, and was given the role of pilot to three-time Paralympic gold medalist Aileen McGlynn. In 2011 the two competed in the B1km Time Trial at the Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy taking silver. They followed this in 2012 by entering the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships held in Los Angeles in the United States. They took three silver medals at the Championships, in B3km Pursuit silver, B1km Time Trial and B Sprint.[2]

Scott took part in her first Summer Paralympic Games in 2012, again partnered with McGlynn. The pair entered both the Women's 1 km time trial B and the Women's individual pursuit B. In the time trial, Scott and McGlynn, took to the velodrome as the penultimate racers and posted the fastest time with 1.09.469; only for the current World Champions, Australia's Felicity Johnson and Stephanie Morton to record a Paralympic record of 1:08.919 in the last trial.[4] In the individual pursuit Scott and McGlynn finished third in the preliminaries, setting them up for a bronze medal decider with British team-mates Lora Turnham and her pilot Fiona Duncan. Scott and McGlynn finished a second quicker taking their second medal of the games.[5]

Scott teamed up with Sophie Thornhill for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The pair won gold in the visually impaired tandem sprint when they defeated McGlynn and Louise Haston of Scotland 2–0 in the final[6] and followed it up with a second gold in the kilo time trial.[7]

References

1. "New Year's Honours list 2017" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. 30 December 2016. p. 83. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
2. "Helen Scott". paralympics.org.uk. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
3. "British Paralympic Association announce Team GB paracycling squad for London 2012 Paralympic Games". britishcycling.org.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
4. Gallacher, Brendan (31 August 2012). "Paralympics 2012: GB's Aileen McGlynn and pilot Helen Scott claim silver in 1km time trial". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
5. "Paralympics 2012: tandem teams of Kappes-MacLean and Fachie-Storey in all-British final for gold". The Daily Telegraph. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
6. "Glasgow 2014: England's Thornhill & Scott win tandem gold". BBC. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
7. "Glasgow 2014: Thornhill and Scott win gold for England". BBC. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.