St Mary’s Alumna Wins Three Bronze Medals at Paris Paralympics

St Mary’s University, Twickenham (SMU) alumna Corrine Hall has finished her third Paralympic Games in Paris with three Bronze medals in para-cycling events for Great Britain.

Corrine is the tandem pilot rider for Lora Fachie, with the pair having competed in all women’s B para-cycling events at the Paris Paralympics this year.

The pair’s first medal in Paris was a Bronze win in the Women’s B 3000m Individual Pursuit with a time of 3:20.488, beating fellow GB teammates Lizzi Jordan and Danni Khan by almost five seconds.

Corrine and Lora then won a second Bronze medal in the Women’s B Individual Time Trial road event, with a time of 40:41.30.

Their third Bronze medal win came in the Women’s B Road Race, where they finished 95 second behind first place GB teammates Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl. Corrine and Lora completed the 99.4km race in a time of 2:39:01.

This means that Corrine’s total Paralympic medal count is now seven, having already won two Gold medals, a Silver, and a Bronze in para-cycling events at the Rio and Tokyo Games.

Corrine previously won two Gold medals with Lora in the Women’s B Individual Pursuit races at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games.

Talking about their Gold medal win in Rio, Corrine said, “We actually went there thinking our best event was going to be the time trial, in which we actually won Bronze. In the track pursuit we knew we were capable of a medal, but I don't think either of us believed it could be Gold. Getting to take the race and break the Paralympic record with all our family in the crowd was such a special moment.”

Speaking on Corrine’s success at the Paris Paralympics Head of Sport St Mary’s Andrew Reid-Smith said, “Corrine and Lora have been competing together at the highest level since 2013, winning medals in a range of para-cycling events at Paralympics and World Championships. They’ve performed brilliantly in what has been a superb Games, and their achievement in winning seven medals across Rio, Tokyo, and Paris is incredible.” 

St Mary’s has a history of success at recent Olympic and Paralympic Games, with SMU athletes having already won three medals at the Paris Olympic Games. Alumna Beth Potter took home two Bronze medals in the Women’s Triathlon and Mixed Triathlon Relay, while alumnus Aaron Grandidier won Gold with France in the Men’s Rugby Sevens.

Athletes, alumni, and students from SMU have won a Gold medal at every Games since Beijing 2008. In total the University has seen 51 athletes take part in the last four Olympic and Paralympic Games, with some representing multiple events, winning 17 medals for their nations prior to Paris 2024.