Caitlin Ward

Caitlin Ward
Ward at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
Personal information
Born (1994-02-01) 1 February 1994 (age 32)
Frankston, Victoria, Australia
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Women's para track cycling
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place2024 ParisTime trial B
Track World Championships
Gold medal – first place2026 ApeldoornSprint C5
Gold medal – first place2026 ApeldoornMixed team sprint C1–5
Silver medal – second place2023 GlasgowTandem time trial B
Silver medal – second place2023 GlasgowTandem sprint B
Bronze medal – third place2024 Rio de JaneiroTime trial C1
Bronze medal – third place2024 Rio de JaneiroTandem sprint B
Bronze medal – third place2026 ApeldoornTime trial C5
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2022 BirminghamTandem sprint B
Gold medal – first place2022 BirminghamTandem time trial B

Caitlin Ward (born 1 February 1994) is an Australian track cyclist who competed at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Personal life

Caitlin Ward was born in Frankston, Victoria, on 1 February 1994. She has a master's degree in Physiotherapy from Flinders University in Adelaide. She runs track sessions for AusCycling in South Australia and co-owns JKT Coaching.

Cycling career

Ward became interested in cycling after participating in the Around the Bay in a Day in 2005 and the Great Victorian Bike Ride in 2006 when she was in the fifth grade at primary school.

She was sidelined between 2015 and 2018 with a series of injuries including glandular fever and a broken ankle after a gym accident in which it was crushed by a 250 kilogram leg press, but she came back to win the women's sprint and keirin at the Australian national titles in 2019. She represented Australia at the 2019–20 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Brisbane but missed out on selection for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In 2022, Ward became the sighted pilot for blind Paralympian Jessica Gallagher at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where they won gold in the tandem B sprint and tandem time trial B at London's Lee Valley VeloPark. At the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Glasgow the following year they won silver medals in both events. At the 2024 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in March 2024, they won bronze in the tandem B Sprint and the 1 km time trial.

Ward was selected as pilot for Gallager at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, where they won silver in the Women's B 1000m Time Trial.


Caitlin was classified as a c5 cyclist due to the chronic injury to her lower limb from the leg press accident in 2016, with her first National race in 2024, making Caitlin the first pilot in history to be a nationally classified athlete herself. Caitlin transitioned off the tandem after Paris 2024 and was selected for her first World Championships as a c5 cyclist in 2026.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Caitlin Ward Results". Commonwealth Games Australia. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Track champion Caitlin Ward making 'paw-sitive' impact on animals lives". AusCycling. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "More Great Vic alumni gold". Bicycle Network. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  4. ↑ "Aussie Tandem dream team of Jess Gallagher and Caitlin Ward forged from adversity". Jess Gallagher. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  5. ↑ Monteverde, Marco (7 April 2019). "Caitlin Ward finds redemption at nationals with double success". Courier-Mail. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  6. ↑ "Women's B Sprint and the". api.veloresults.com. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  7. ↑ "Women B 1km Time Trial Final". api.veloresults.com. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "Paralympics Australia Names Cycling Team For Paris 2024". Paralympics Australia. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  9. ↑ "Paris 2024 - Women's B 1000m Time Trial - Final Results". olympics.com. Retrieved 16 September 2024.