Para-Cycling: Chris McDonald

Meet Chris, 37, from Bristol. Chris is part of the Great Britain Para-Cycling Team, but away from his hectic training schedule, travelling, and the pressures of professional cycling, Chris enjoys being a husband, father, and relaxing.

Born with Congenital Cataract, Ocular Hypertension and Nystagmus, Chris said: "Having lived with sight loss since birth, I've just found ways to adapt and cope. For example, when travelling, I need to do a lot of planning, or recce with the support of my wife, or a friend, so I am familiar with where I'm going."

"I don't see a lot of detail and the concentration needed to do simple tasks, such as reading cooking instructions can be time consuming as I need to use magnification aids. Tasks such as food shopping can be challenging - especially when you're asked by your son to buy a specific brand of pasta sauce amongst the hundreds on the shelves! But I'm not shy and will ask for help."

Chris added: "Training for cycling is the biggest hurdle, as I do not have enough vision to ride on the road by myself, so most of my training is completed on a turbo trainer in my garage – a mental game to find the motivation, especially in the summer, when everyone else is riding outside!"

In 2016, Chris attended a British Cycling Talent Identification Day in Derby. He said: "My feedback from the coaches following the day was that I wasn't good enough at that moment in time. I don't like being told no, so I stopped weightlifting and playing football and went to as many spin classes as possible. In addition, I got myself a coach and purchased a bike and a turbo trainer, to be able to progress on my cycling journey. Fast forward 18 months, I attended my second Talent Identification Day, having made the required improvements, and was invited to join the Great Britain Foundation Squad."

"Before cycling, I played partially sighted football for England, until I ruptured my ACL. After my operation, I continued to play in the league but unfortunately, never got back into the national team. I also played cricket for Avon Sports, and in our first season, got to play in the Cup Final at Lords."

We asked Chris, what role does sport play in your life, he said: "Sport is everything to me, I have always played a sport and been active, now I make a living doing it."

Fortunately, Chris didn't face too many challenges getting into sport. He said: "I always wanted to play sport and knew fellow visually impaired athletes who played so my path into football and cricket was very easy. However, cycling was a bit trickier. The way I found out about Talent Identification Day's was more by luck rather than me specifically looking to get into the sport. I had no knowledge of competitive cycling before I rode for Great Britain."

As a youngster Chris attended lots of British Blind Sport Have a Go Days. He said: "The events were always brilliant. If I hadn't attended, I would never have tried sport."

Chris's biggest achievement to date is winning his first international medal at only his second race. Reflecting on his first selection, Chris said: "To represent Great Britain for the first time was an amazing experience! A very proud moment, but also very nerve wracking, as the pressure to perform is intense. All of my hard work, the sacrifice and commitment up to that point was paying off."

At the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Great Britain finished at the top of the para-cycling medal table. With the focus now on Los Angeles 2028, Chris is committed to the next 4 years and hopes to be selected, achieve his long-term goal.

For more information about British Cycling's para-cycling programme, go to: www.britishcycling.org.uk/aboutpara-cycling?c=EN

To find out more about British Cycling's disability and inclusive cycling programme, Limitless, go to: www.britishcycling.org.uk/limitless

For more information about cycling and other sports and activities, go to: www.britishblindsport.org.uk/az