Matthew Formston

Matthew Formston

2016 Australian Paralympic Team Portrait
Personal information
Nickname(s) Formo
Nationality  Australia
Born (1978-07-21) 21 July 1978 [1]
Sydney [1]
Sport
Disability Visual Impairment
Club Central Coast
Medal record
Men's para-cycling
Representing  Australia
UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships
Aguascalientes 2014 Tandem B Pursuit
Appledoon 2015 Tandem B Pursuit

Matthew Formston (born 21 July 1978) is a legally blind[2] Australian para-cyclist who won gold and silver medals at the 2014 and 2015 at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships. With his pilot Nick Yallouris, he represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.[3]

Personal

Formston was born on 21 July 1978 in Sydney, New South Wales.[1] At age of five, Formston was diagnosed with Macular Dystrophy resulting in 0% central vision and 5% peripheral vision.[4] He is legally blind.[2] He has completed a Diploma of Health Science and works as an Accounts Executive.[1]

Career

Formston's cycling journey began on a charity ride from Sydney to Melbourne on a single bike for the Macular Degeneration Foundation in 2009.[5] Formston originally rode with Mick Curran as a tandem partner; the pair were known as OzTandem.[2] Curran is known as the pilot because he is the person who is fully sighted and steers the bike. Formston and Curran trained out of the Central Coast, New South Wales riding every morning for two hours and a few gym sessions on top of that throughout the week.[4] In 2013, the pair also finished 1st in the Tandem Road Race Para-cycling Road World Cup.[1] In 2014, Formston and Curran set a new world record in the Tandem Pursuit Para-cycling event clocking in a time of 4:11.213 [6] and won the gold medal at the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico.[6] Formston and Curran competed in the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championshipsin Appledoon, Netherlands and finished second in the Tandem B 4 km pursuit.

Formston and Curran's bond went beyond the tandem bike with the pair running their own business known as Champion Vision.[7][8] He is coached by Tom Skulander [6]

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Formston's new pilot was Nick Yallouris who lived Chittaway Point, New South Wales close to where Formston lives.[9] At the Rio Games, Formston competed in four events and his best results were fifth in the Men's Individual Pursuit B and sixth in the Men's 1 km Time Trial B.[10]

In 2016, he is a New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[11]

Recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rider Profiles". Cycling Australia. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "OzTandem". OzTandem. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Walsh, Scott (30 May 2016). "Five-time gold medallist Kieran Modra facing unusual 'first' in storied Paralympics career". Adelaide Advertiser. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  4. 1 2 Connellan, Matthew. "Perfect pair: Blind cyclist and his co-pilot prepare for World Championships ahead of Rio Games". News Local. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Matthew Formston". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Moran, Matt. "The 'Impossible' in the morning, becomes 'Possible' by the afternoon". Wattbike. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "About". Champion Vision.
  8. ↑ "Matt Formston". LinkedIn. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Nick Yallouris". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Matthew Formston". Rio Paralympics Official site. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Five NSWIS Para-cyclists pedalling towards Rio". New South Wales Institute of Sport website. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
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