Caitlin Ward

Caitlin Ward
Personal information
Born (1994-02-01) 1 February 1994 (age 30)
Frankston, Victoria
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Women's para track cycling
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris Time trial B
Track World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2023 Glasgow Tandem time trial B
Silver medal – second place 2023 Glasgow Tandem sprint B
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Rio de Janeiro 500m time trial C1
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Rio de Janeiro Tandem sprint B
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Tandem sprint B
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Tandem time trial B

Caitlin Ward (born 1 February 1994) is an Australian track cyclist who has been selected for the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Personal

Caitlin Ward was born in Frankston, Victoria, on 1 February 1994. She has a master's degree in Physiotherapy from Flinders University in Adelaide.[1] She runs track sessions for AusCycling in South Australia and co-owns JKT Coaching.[2]

Cycling

Ward became interested in cycling after participating in the Around the Bay in a Day in 2005 and the Great Victorian Bike Ride in 2006 when she was in the fifth grade at primary school.[1][3]

She was sidelined between 2015 and 2018 with a series of injuries including glandular fever and a broken ankle after a gym accident in which it was crushed by a 250 kilogram leg press,[4] but she came back to win the women's sprint and keirin at the Australian national titles in 2019.[5] She represented Australia at the 2019–20 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Brisbane but missed out on selection for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[1]

In 2022, Ward became the sighted pilot for blind Paralympian Jessica Gallagher at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where they won gold in the tandem B sprint and tandem time trial B at London's Lee Valley VeloPark. At the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Glasgow the following year they won silver medals in both events.[1] At the 2024 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in March 2024, they won bronze in the tandem B Sprint and the 1 km time trial.[6][7]

At the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris

Ward was selected as pilot for Gallager at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris,[8] where they won silver in the Women's B 1000m Time Trial.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "Caitlin Ward Results". Commonwealth Games Australia. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Track champion Caitlin Ward making 'paw-sitive' impact on animals lives". AusCycling. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  3. ^ "More Great Vic alumni gold". Bicycle Network. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Aussie Tandem dream team of Jess Gallagher and Caitlin Ward forged from adversity". Jess Gallagher. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  5. ^ Monteverde, Marco (7 April 2019). "Caitlin Ward finds redemption at nationals with double success". Courier-Mail. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Women's B Sprint and the". api.veloresults.com. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Women B 1km Time Trial Final". api.veloresults.com. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Paralympics Australia Names Cycling Team For Paris 2024". Paralympics Australia. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Paris 2024 - Women's B 1000m Time Trial - Final Results". olympics.com. Retrieved 16 September 2024.