St Mary’s Student Becomes World Para-cycling Champion

A postgraduate Strength and Conditioning student at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, has become one of the best Para-cyclists in the world after competing at the Para-cycling Road World Championships this weekend in Baie-Comeau, Canada. Corrine Hall, who graduated from St Mary’s earlier this year from her undergraduate Sport Science course, took a Gold medal in the tandem B time-trial and a Silver medal in the tandem B road race as a pilot for her partner Lora Turnham. Corrine, who has been cycling for eight years, has only been a tandem cyclist since October 2012 after being discovered at the women’s 30km Points Track Cycling event. She is now a Pilot for the Great Britain Para-cycling Team, training full-time in Manchester. Despite her short amount of time with team GB, Corrine has already won numerous medals including Gold at both the Para-cycling World Cup, and in the Belgium Para-cycling Tandem Tour before storming the World Championships this weekend. Corrine said, “I couldn’t have completed the last year of my course without the support of my lecturer Richard Blagrove, and from Paul Dance and Richard Burden who provided lots of physiological support. “I absolutely loved my time here at St Mary’s and I’m really looking forward to starting my postgraduate course in Strength and Conditioning Science. I’m going to miss riding my bike so much though!” Although a long way off, Corrine is hoping to focus her postgraduate dissertation on cycling and is training to pilot for the GB Para-cycling team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.