Highland cyclist says being world champion in Scotland best moment of his career
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FIN Graham says becoming a world champion in his own country was the greatest moment of his life as he cemented his place as one of the best para-cyclists on the planet.
The Strathpeffer para-athlete picked up an incredible six medals at the World Cycling Championships which took place across Scotland.
His medal haul included winning two gold medals in the C3 Road Race through Dumfries and Galloway and the C3 Individual Pursuit at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.
The 23-year-old also won four silver medals, three of them in the velodrome in the C3 Scratch Race, C3 1km Time Trial and in the Omnium.
He also won silver in the Individual Time Trial road race in Dumfries and Galloway.
Graham says he was pleased with how he performed at the world championships, but to win in Scotland made it even more special.
“With it being a home world championship, I wanted to get some good results,” he said.
“But I didn’t expect it was going to turn out this good and the atmosphere at all the races was incredible.
“I’ve not competed in front of a crowd like that before and the fact that I was competing in a world championship at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome made it even more special.
“In the individual pursuit final, the noise as I made my way through the lap was incredible and it made the difference in helping me cross the line. Winning the gold in the individual pursuit is top of the list of my achievements in my career.
“Doing it in Scotland with a home crowd and the velodrome being full, I cant describe how unreal it was.
“It will take a lot to top and it will stay with me forever.”
Graham says competing in a world championships in Scotland did add to the pressure of trying to win gold. But he relished the opportunity and was delighted with his success.
“I wanted to defend everything I won last year and I knew it was going to be difficult.
“Being a home world championship, I was going to be the one everyone was looking at and I was marked in everything,
“You set expectations, but you never know how well it will go and how you feel on the day.
“It was nice to come away with two world champion medals.”
After his success in the velodrome in Glasgow, Graham moved on to the road racing events which took place in the Dumfries and Galloway.
In the C3 Individual Time Trial, he missed out on gold by two seconds as he claimed silver behind Matthias Schindler of Germany .
Graham admitted that he found the disappointment of missing out on gold in the time trial hard to take.
He said that it did affect him mentally at the start of the C3 Road Race, but he managed to overcome his disappointment to win the race and claim his second world title of the championships.
Missing gold in the time trial by less than two seconds was gutting and I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“In the road race it took me a long time to get up for it and it was the end of a long two weeks.
“During the first lap I felt laboured, but after that I warmed into it, then I properly got going and managed to win gold which I was delighted with.”
Graham was born with bilateral club feet, which leaves him with no calf muscle and little to no movement in his ankles.
Having fallen in love with cycling at the age of four, Graham started competing in mountain biking three years later and raced across Scotland, but caught the attention of British Cycling’s Para-cycling coaches in 2016 at a talent identification day in Derby.
In 2017, he claimed his first national para-cycling road title and was selected for his first World Championships on the road in 2018. There, he secured a top-ten finish in the road race which showed his potential.
He made his debut at a UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in 2019, where he finished agonisingly close to a medal in both the kilo and pursuit but, before the end of the year, Graham would announce his arrival on the world stage.
At the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup at Baie-Comeau in Canada in 2020 Graham was in dominant form as he pulled off the double of winning both the road race and individual time trial.
In 2021, he won bronze at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships road race in Portugal.
He then headed to the Tokyo Paralympics when he won two silver medals in the individual pursuit and road race C1-C3.
He had an amazing 2022 when he won three gold medals at the Track World Championships in Canada winning gold in the individual pursuit, Omnium and scratch race and won gold in the road race at the Road World Championships.
The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships was the first of its kind as it brought together various disciplines of cycling for them to be held as part of one event, including the Road World Championships, UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
Graham was a huge fan of combining all cycling disciplines into one big event, saying it gave all athletes a platform to perform on a bigger stage than previously.
“It is the biggest cycling event that’s ever happened. It has shone the spotlight on the different cycling disciplines in the last two weeks.
“It also gave a chance for able bodied athletes and spectators a chance to see para-cyclists in action that they might have not seen before.
“Speaking to them afterwards, they can’t get their head around what para-cyclists can do and it shone on a new light on para-cycling."
Graham is now setting his sights on being selected for the Great Britain squad for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
He hopes he can maintain his form and continue his success next year.
“It is all working toward the Paralympics,” he said.
“There is a long way to go and a lot of races to go, but everything is driving to getting selected to Paris.
“Cyclists will be stepping up a level for the Games, but if I do get the opportunity to win a gold medal that would be phenomenal.”
