Fran's Profile

Para cyclist and triathlete Fran Brown is a latecomer to two-wheeled sport but since first racing a bike in 2022, the Cornwall native has collected a host of accolades, including her first Paralympic medal, a silver, at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

A keen rock climber as a child, when Fran Brown suffered 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 in the neuro-physical disability class.

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. Beginning with a handcycle and racing wheelchair, Brown progressed to riding a normal bike and running with leg braces. 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, achieving honours across a variety of competitions before she was selected for the delayed 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo where she competed in the triathlon, placing fourth.

Following the Games, in 2022, Brown made the decision to step away from triathlon due to health complications caused by running, and made the decision to fully focus on the bike. 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, she 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, defending the titles she won the previous year in Canada. More success followed in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, where Brown achieved her first rainbow jerseys on the track, winning 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 time-trial.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games saw a successful Paralympic debut for Brown, as she fought hard in a cat and mouse-style time-trial, with just 45 seconds separating the top five riders, eventually taking home the C1-3silver medal with a time of 21:30.45.

With an early split in the women’s C1-3 road race, and tricky conditions, Brown delivered a commendable ride to finish seventh overall.

Just two weeks later, Brown headed to the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zurich, where she proved her form, defending both her time-trial and road race titles to round out a fantastic season.

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