Biography

Fachie’s hereditary condition, which also affects her brothers Roy and Mark and mother, led to her losing her sight at the age of five, leaving her with only light perception.

But that did not prevent 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.

However, by 2011 she had a new pilot in Fiona Duncan, with whom she won her first major medal, silver at the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy. That, and other, performances led to Fachie and Duncan being selected for the London Paralympics where they were considered medal contenders.

From heartbreak to glory

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 in seventh.

Following London 2012 Lora was partnered up with a new pilot, Hall, a move that proved inspired given what was to follow. Their partnership could not have got off to a better start. 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 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 approached the 2016 season with success on the track and the road their goal and made a promising start in March, winning a bronze medal in the pursuit at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, the first time the pair had medalled together on the track.

They then switched their focus back to the road and the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Belgium picking up a silver medal in the time trial and the road race, signalling their return to form.

They carried this form into the Paralympics, 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.