Jason Queally: Rider Profile

Jason Queally

Date of birth: 11/05/1970

From: Great Heywood, Staffordshire

Previous teams: Team SIS

Jason Queally career profile

Jason Queally hit the headlines in September 2000 when he won Great Britain's first gold medal in the Sydney Olympics.

Queally set a new Games record on his way to victory in the 1km time trial, two years after he took silver in the discipline at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Having been a keen swimmer - he represented Lancaster and British Universities in Water Polo - he turned to cycling at 25 because he wanted to compete in triathlons.

He benefited from Lottery funding, but his career was nearly ended in a freak accident while competing at the Meadowbank track in Edinburgh. He was impaled by an 18-inch long, one-and-a-half inch wide splinter which entered through his back.

Queally required 70 stitches and, had it pierced his chest cavity, it would probably have killed him. He was told by Doctors that it was probably the thickness of his chest muscles, a legacy of his swimming training, that saved his life.

As a result, he never cycled in a group race, competing in the individual and team sprint and the 1km time trial from then on.

The outsider to win gold in Sydney, Queally was not selected to defend his medal four years later in Athens. Instead he competed solely in the team sprint; Team GB were eliminated in the first round.

Despite strong performances in the 2006 Commonwealth Games and various World Cup events, Queally was not selected for the Beijing Olympics. He announced his retirement, but in 2010 began training with the GB team pursuit squad.

Just months later he was part of the team to triumph at the European Track Championships, yet has since admitted that the competition for places in the discipline is too fierce.

Queally then turned his attentions to London 2012, in a bid to get selected for the men's sprint team. However after failing to do so, he now plays the role of pilot in the Paralympic pursuit team.

Jason Queally results

2011

National champion, team sprint

2010

European Track Championships, team pursuit, first

2007

Los Angeles Track World Cup meet, team sprint, third

Beijing Track World Cup meet, team sprint, third

2006

National Track Championships, team sprint, first

Commonwealth Games, 1km time trial, silver

Commonwealth Games, team sprint, silver

2005

World Track Championships, team sprint, gold

World Track Championships, 1km time trial, silver

Moscow Track World Cup meet, 1km time trial, first

Los Angeles Track World Cup meet, 1km time trial, second

2004

Track World Cup meet, 1km time trial, second

Track World Cup meet, team sprint, second

World Track Championships, team sprint, bronze

2003

Cape Town Track World Cup meet, team sprint, first

World Track Championships, team sprint, bronze

2002

Moscow Track World Cup meet, team sprint, first

Commonwealth Games, 1km time trial, silver

Commonwealth Games, team sprint, silver

2001

World Track Championships, team sprint, bronze

2000

Olympic Games, 1km time trial, gold

Olympic Games, sprint, silver

World Track Championships, team sprint, silver

World Track Championships, 1km time trial, bronze

1999

World Track Championships, team sprint, silver

Mexico City Track World Cup meet, team sprint, first

Mexico City Track World Cup meet, 1km time trial, second

1998

Commonwealth Games, 1km time trial, silver