Multiple world champion and two-time Paralympic champion, visually impaired para-cyclist Lora Fachie heads to her fourth Paralympic Games in Paris this summer seeking a third consecutive title on the track in the women’s tandem B individual pursuit, where she will be piloted by long-term partner Corrine Hall.

A hereditary condition, which also affects her brothers Roy and Mark and mother, led to Fachie losing her sight at the age of five, leaving her with only light perception. But that did not prevent Liverpool-born Fachie (née Turnham) pursuing a career in sport and joining the Great Britain Cycling Team in 2009 where she showed early promise alongside pilot Rebecca Rimmington, winning medals at world cups in 2009 and 2010.

Fachie won her first major medal in 2011, alongside new pilot Fiona Duncan – a silver at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy. That, and other performances led to Fachie and Duncan being selected for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The pair competed in four events at London 2012; the kilo time-trial and pursuit on the track and the road race and the time-trial on the road. They just missed out on the podium in the velodrome finishing in fourth place in both events and landing in eighth place in the time-trial on the road. In the road race, they had a 14-second lead going into the final lap only to suffer a devastating mechanical failure, eventually finishing seventh.

Following London 2012, Lora was partnered up with a new pilot, Corrine Hall, a move that proved inspired given what was to follow.  At their first major international event, the 2013 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Canada, they won gold in the time-trial and silver in the road race.

They enjoyed an even better year in 2014, dominating women’s tandem racing. They added another world title to their collection, this time in the road race, and picked up a bronze medal in the time-trial. They also collected double golds at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cups in Spain and Italy.

While they continued to pick up medals at world cup level in 2015, winning three golds, they endured a rare struggle at the world championships in Switzerland, finishing out of the medals in the time-trial and the road race.

After the relative disappointment of their 2015 season, Fachie and Hall made a promising start to 2016, winning bronze in the pursuit at the world championships in Montichiari, Italy; the first time the pair had medalled together on the track. There was success on the road too, with two silver medals at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Belgium in the time-trial and the road race, signaling their return to form

They carried this form into the Paralympics in Rio, winning gold and breaking the world record in the tandem pursuit on the track and picking up a bronze medal in the time-trial on the road. Fachie was recognised in the 2017 New Year’s honours list for her services to cycling with an MBE.

More silver medals followed on the track and road in 2017, along with two more silvers at the road world championships the following year, before Fachie and Hall made a breakthrough at the 2018 track world championships in Rio. Fachie took her first world title on the track, winning gold in the individual pursuit. The following year, Fachie returned to winning ways on the road too, taking the time-trial world title at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Emmen, Netherlands.

Following the covid-interrupted 2020 season, Fachie was back in action ready for the Tokyo Paralympics, where once again she claimed a gold-medal on the track, defending her individual pursuit title. She also improved on the bronze she won in Rio in the road time-trial, taking silver. Her continued contribution to the sport was recognised in the Birthday Honours list in 2022, where she was named OBE. 

Fachie took a break from cycling in 2022 to give birth to her first son, Fraser, but she was able to return to the top level of competition the following summer for the mixed discipline world championships in Scotland. Along with Hall, Fachie took silver on the track in Glasgow in the individual pursuit.

So far in 2024, Fachie travelled to Rio de Janeiro for the track world championships and while she did not start the individual pursuit event, she came fourth in the 1km time-trial, before teaming up with husband Neil in the mixed team sprint, taking gold in the tandem team relay to set her Paralympic year off to a good start. This summer in Paris, she will aim to defend her Paralympic title on the track for the third time, while targeting her first title on the road in the time-trial and road races.