Emily Petricola

Emily Petricola had always been involved in sports, but in 2007, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the age of 27.

Petricola has described MS as an “invisible disability”; it affects every aspect of life in unpredictable, unseen ways: from tremors to sight loss to extreme fatigue and much more.

Determined to continue her sporting pursuits, in 2015 she began training with five-time Olympic cyclist Shane Kelly. Within three years, she was on a world championship podium, winning silver and bronze at the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships.

In 2019, she took her first world title, winning the C4 Individual Pursuit in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. She followed up that year with her second set of rainbow bands in the C4 road time trial.

2020 was an even more productive year on the track for the St Kilda Cycling Club rider. She won three titles at the world championships in Milton, Canada: the C4 omnium, scratch race and another individual pursuit crown.

In 2021, Petricola became a Paralympic champion when she won gold in the C4 individual pursuit with a world record time of 3:38.061. She also picked up a silver medal in the road time trial.

At the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Paris, Petricola repeated her triple crown from 2020 by winning the C4 individual pursuit, scratch race and omnium titles again.

That same year, Pertricola was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to sport following her performance at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, and she was also recognised as AusCycling’s Women Track Para-cyclist of the Year and AIS Female Para Athlete of the Year.

The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow were also a success, with Petricola claiming the rainbow jersey in the Individual Pursuit, along with silver medals in the Road Race and Time Trial.

At the 2024 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Brazil, Petricola added more gold medals, this time in the Women's Pursuit C4 and Women's Omnium C4, with a silver in the Women's Scratch Race C4.

She then successfully defended her Paralympic title at Paris 2024, winning gold in the C4 3000m individual pursuit. In doing so, she lowered her world record by more than two seconds, clocking 3:35.856 in qualifying. Petricola also competed on the road at those games, placing fourth in the time trial and 11th in the combined C4-5 road race.

Petricola is trained as an English teacher.