Sophie Thornhill

Sophie Thornhill

Athlete Information

  • Region

    Poynton, Stockport

  • Date of Birth

    09/02/1996

  • Classification

    Tandem B at Rio

Athlete main content

Bio

After being inspired by London 2012, Sophie joined the Great Britain Cycling Team in May 2013.

She immediately made her mark on the world stage winning two world titles and breaking two world records, in the tandem B kilo and sprint events, with her pilot Rachel James.

Sophie then followed this achievement by winning two gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games for Team England with pilot Helen Scott.

Sophie continued her partnership with Helen at the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland, retaining her tandem B kilo and sprint titles.

At the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy, Sophie and Helen won two silver medals.

Moving on to Rio 2016, Sophie and Helen were in superb form, setting a new Paralympic record of 1:06.283 to become Paralympic champions in the kilo time trial. Two days later, in the 3000m individual pursuit, the pair won bronze for their second medal of the Games, finishing behind gold medalists Lora Turnham and Corinne Hall from Great Britain.

Following a change in pilot for 2017, Sophie and Corrine Hall dominated at the 2017 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles, USA - the duo secured a clean sweep of tandem world titles, winning gold in the individual pursuit, time trial and sprint.

For 2018, Thornhill reunited with Helen Scott for the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro - and claimed gold in the 1km time trial, setting a new world record of 1:05.079 before matching the result in the sprint - also setting a world record of 10.891 in the 200m flying lap in qualifying, making Thornhill a nine-time world champion.

Just a few weeks later, the pair headed to the Gold Coast in Australia for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Their incredible successes continued - first, the duo won sprint gold, breaking their newly set flying lap world record with a new time of 10.906.

Days later, they repeated the trick with a second gold medal and another new world record in the 1km time trial

Sophie was born with oculocutaneous albinism and is visually impaired.

Major Results

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

  • Kilo (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold
  • Pursuit (piloted by Helen Scott): Bronze

2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast (Australia)

  • Kilo (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold
  • Sprint (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold

2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

  • Kilo (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold
  • Sprint (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold

2017 UCI Para cycling Track World Championships, Los Angeles, USA

  • Pursuit (piloted by Corinne Hall): Gold
  • Kilo (piloted by Corinne Hall): Gold
  • Sprint (piloted by Corinne Hall): Gold

2016 UCI Para cycling Track World Championships, Montichiari, Italy

  • Tandem B kilo (piloted by Helen Scott): Silver

2015 UCI Para cycling Track World Championships, Apeldoorn, Netherlands

  • Tandem B sprint (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold
  • Tandem B kilo (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold

2014 UCI Para cycling Track World Championships, Aguascalientes, Mexico

  • Tandem B sprint (piloted by Rachel James): Gold
  • Tandem B kilo (piloted by Rachel James): Gold

2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, UK

  • Kilo (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold
  • Sprint (piloted by Helen Scott): Gold

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