Kate O'Brien Kate O'Brien

Kate O’Brien is an experienced athlete who decided to join the Para sport world after a serious accident rocked her world in 2017.

In 2020 at the World Para Cycling Track Championships, O’Brien made a spectacular debut in her new endeavour, winning the gold medal in the women’s C4 500m time trial before a home crowd at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ont.

O’Brien, a member of the Rio 2016 Olympic cycling team and a two-time medallist at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, clocked a world record 35.223 seconds for the victory. 

In addition to cycling, O’Brien was a bobsledder before her accident and competed at the 2013 world championships. A badly timed torn hamstring took her out of the first half of the Olympic season and she missed qualifying as a bobsleigh brakeman for the 2014 Winter Games.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Gold and world record at 2020 World Para Cycling Track Championships…. 2016 Olympic Games… 2015 Pan Am Games… 2013 World Bobsledding Championships… 

PERSONAL
Injured in 2017 when midway through a motorpacing effort during a track cycling demonstration, her rear tire blew out. She lost control and hit the back of the motorbike and suffered a major head injury.

NOTABLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS

• 2020 World Track Championships 500m 1st