Sophie's Profile

Twice a Paralympic medallist in Tokyo and a multiple world champion, visually impaired para-cyclist Sophie Unwin is targeting success at this summer’s Paralympic Games in Paris, alongside pilot Jenny Holl.

Unwin, whose visually impairment is impacted by Stargardt disease, has enjoyed a startling career trajectory from the point where she was first spotted at a Great Britain talent-ID session in August 2020.

With the Covid-19 pandemic keeping Unwin in Devon and limiting her to turbo training on her own, she initially targeted the Paris Paralympics in 2024 as her career goal.

In March 2021, however, she was paired with Holl as her pilot and by June the two riders were making their competitive debut at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Ostend, Belgium where they placed third in both the time trial and road race.

They carried that form into the World Championships in Portugal just a few weeks later, where they enjoyed spectacular success in the road race, taking gold. 

It instantly elevated the pair into contention for a Paralympic call-up for the Tokyo Games.

The duo delivered incredible debut performances, coming home with a silver medal in the tandem road race and bronze in the individual pursuit in the velodrome.

Following the Tokyo Paralympic Games, the pair went from strength to strength, performing consistently across the UCI Para-Road World Cup season in 2022, bringing home one gold and three silver medals over two rounds.

The UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Canada that year saw them crowned world champion in the tandem B time-trial, later picking up a silver medal to add to their haul in the road race.

Further success followed on the track, with the pair displaying their broad skillset, securing bronze medals in the sprint and 1km time trial, before topping off the season with a world title in the Tandem B pursuit.

2023 continued to see success with one win and three silver medals across the para-cycling road World Cup series. Their shining moment came at the home, multi-discipline UCI Cycling World Championships which saw them win an incredible three world titles on the track in Glasgow, the first time the Olympic and Paralympic programmes were combined at a world championships. They followed this up on the roads of Dumfries and Galloway with a silver in the time-trial and a bronze medal in the road race, capping off a fantastic season.

So far in 2024, heading towards the Paris Paralympic Games, the pair have come up against strong competition in the shape of their British teammates, Lizzi Jordan and Danni Khan. Jordan was able to overcome Unwin in all three events at the UCI Para-Track World Championships in Rio in March, with Unwin taking three silvers. 

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