Matt's Profile

Rotherham has become a fixture of the Great Britain Para-cycling Podium programme, piloting James Ball and Neil Fachie to a host of world titles, to which he will hope to add a Paralympic gold in Tokyo.

A European champion in his own right, as a junior, and a senior national medallist across the sprint events, Rotherham also displayed tandem pedigree before joining the para-cycling programme, having won the national tandem title in 2011 and 2015.

He also won the national junior keirin title twice at the British National Track Championships, won two silvers in the senior keirin, a silver and bronze in the individual sprint and no fewer than four silver medals in the team sprint competition.

Rotherham also became a popular figure on the Revolution and Six Day professional track series across Europe.

But in 2017, looking for ways to prolong his track cycling career, Rotherham linked up with the Great Britain Para-cycling programme and, as a pilot for Ball, took that year’s Los Angeles UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships by storm. The duo secured the sprint double after riding together for just seven weeks, alerting the world of para-cycling to Rotherham’s abilities as a pilot.

He was partnered with Neil Fachie for the 2018 season, and success continued, as the pair won the kilo and the sprint at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Rio and repeated the feat at the Commonwealth Games where they represented Fachie’s native Scotland.

They added the 2019 world sprint title to their collection in Apeldoorn, narrowly edging out their GB rivals of Ball and his new pilot Pete Mitchell. Their team-mates managed to gain revenge in the time trial, although Rotherham and Fachie had the consolation of adding a silver medal to their tally.

At the 2020 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, the thrilling rivalry within the GB squad continued in Milton, Canada. This time, it was the kilo time trial in which Rotherham and Fachie took gold, being left with the silver after losing to Ball and his new pilot Lewis Stewart in the sprint.

During the course of their partnership, they have continued to lower world records and entered the Paralympic year holding the fastest times in history for the tandem kilo (59.278 seconds, set at the 2019 National Track Championships in Manchester) and tandem flying 200m (9.568 seconds, set at the 2018 Commonwealth Games).

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