Daphne Schrager

A Paralympic debut to remember for Daphne Schrager who secured ParalympicsGB’s first medal of the games by finishing second in the women’s C1-3 3000m individual pursuit, while also achieving a new C2 world record in the process.

Daphne Schrager began her elite para sports career as a track athlete, but made the switch in 2019 and has since become multiple National Champion and World Champion on both the track and the road.

Growing up with cerebral palsy, a sporting career was not something the young Daphne Schrager had ever considered possible. But she was inspired watching the London 2012 Paralympics in person, as it offered her a glimpse of what was possible.

It wasn’t in cycling that Schrager first shone as a Para athlete though. At the age of just 17, she was selected to represent England in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia on the athletics track., but she felt overawed by the atmosphere at the event and began to seek other sporting opportunities while still in sixth form at school.

That led to Schrager applying for a talent day with the British Cycling team in 2019 and she was offered a place on the foundation programme to develop her skills as a para cyclist.

Schrager used the lockdown period to practice and hone her skills while in her first year at university.

The results began to come after that, with Schrager taking on her first elite cycling competitions in 2021.

In 2022, silver and bronze medals at the Para European Championships in Austria laid the foundations for Schrager’s first Para Track World Championships that autumn. In Paris, Schrager exceed her own expectations as she overcame double Paralympic champion Keiko Sugiura of Japan to win gold and her first ever rainbow jersey.

Schrager’s good form continued into 2023, and she achieved a silver medal in the C2 individual pursuit behind Flurina Rigling of Switzerland in the final. In 2024 Schrager reinstated herself as the best in the world in that event, beating Rigling to take gold in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She also took part in the omnium achieving an impressive silver medal.

Selected Results

Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Women’s C1-C3 3000m Individual Pursuit - Silver**

2024**

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

Gold, WC2 individual pursuit

Silver, WC2 omnium

2023

UCI Para-Track Cycling World Championships, Glasgow

Silver, WC2 individual pursuit

2022

UCI Para Track World Championships, Paris (France)

Gold, WC3 individual pursuit

Para European Championships, Austria

Silver, WC3 road race

Bronze, WC3 time trial

2021

UCI Para Road World Cup, Ostend (Belgium)

Gold, WC1 time trial

UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, Cascais (Portugal)

Bronze, WC3 road race