Sport A-Z: Track Cycling

Cycling was first developed by visually impaired cyclists who competed using tandem bicycles, and it was introduced as a Paralympic Sport in Seoul in 1988.

Today, in addition to visually impaired athletes, the sport includes those with cerebral palsy, amputations and other physical impairments. Athletes race on bicycles, tricycles, tandem or hand cycles based on their impairment.

The competition programme includes sprints, individual pursuits, the 1,000m time trial, road races and road time trials for both individuals and teams.

At the London 2012 Games, 225 athletes competed in 18 medal events on the track and 225 athletes competed in 32 medal events on the road.


The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to develop sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality. For further information, please visit http://www.paralympic.org.

To watch videos on demand from Paralympic Games and to subscribe to ParalympicSport.TV, please go to www.youtube.com/ParalympicSportTV. Also, you may follow the Paralympic Movement on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ParalympicGames or on
Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/paralympic.