Fran Brown

Fran Brown secured a superb silver medal on her Paralympic debut at Paris 2024 in the Women’s C1-3 road cycling time trial.

Para cyclist and triathlete Fran Brown is a latecomer to two-wheeled sport but since first racing a bike in 2016, the Cornwall native has collected a host of World titles.

A keen rock climber as a child, when Fran Brown had an accident at work that left her with a C4 incomplete spinal cord injury, she found the strength and resilience to return to climbing five years later, following a period of rehabilitation. She excelled in elite para climbing competition, becoming a double para climbing world champion by 2013.

Concurrently, Brown retrained as a physiotherapist at St George’s university, combining her love of sport with her interest in anatomy, becoming one of the first wheelchair users to train in this profession in the UK.

Brown discovered triathlon in 2013, pursuing the sport at first as a means of cross training to support her climbing. She first competed in para-triathlon in 2016, winning the Great British national para triathlon championships in her category, and from there she went on to become a three-time ETU Para Triathlon European Champion, and World Champion in 2019, before being selected for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games where she competed in the triathlon, placing fourth.

Following the Games, in 2022, Brown made the decision to fully focus on the bike after experiencing health complications associated with running. She moved immediately into competition on both the road and track, and won double gold in the women’s C1 category at the Para Road World Championships in Canada, taking her first cycling rainbow stripes in both the road race and the time trial.

The following year, Brown shone both on the track and the road at the home multi-discipline Cycling World Championships. First, in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, where Brown won gold in the individual pursuit. She also won gold in the scratch race and the omnium, despite never having ridden in a bunch race before, and took silver in the 500m time trial. She then took to the streets of Dumfries and Galloway, where she was able to claim double gold once again in both the road race and time trial.

Selected Results

Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

• Women’s C1-3 Road Time Trial - Silver

2023

UCI Para-Track Cycling World Championships, Glasgow

Gold, WC1 individual pursuit

Gold, WC1 scratch race

Gold, WC1 omnium

Silver, WC1 time trial

UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, Dumfries & Galloway

Gold, WC1 time trial

Gold, WC1 road race

2022

Para Road World Championships, Canada

Gold, WC1 time trial

Gold, WC1 road race