Kieran Modra

The career of Australian para‑cycling legend Kieran Modra AM was defined by resilience, sporting excellence and advocacy. Born on 27 March 1972 in South Australia and living with congenital juvenile optic atrophy, Modra overcame his vision impairment to represent Australia at eight Paralympic Games across three sports - athletics, swimming and cycling. 

Modra made his Paralympic debut in athletics at the 1988 Seoul Games, later switching to swimming at the 1992 Barcelona Games where he secured bronze medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke.  He turned his focus to tandem cycling in 1995 and captured his first Paralympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games in the mixed 200m sprint tandem event alongside pilot and wife Kerry Modra.

"It was amazing being able to experience the Atlanta Paralympic Games with Kieran," Kerry Modra recalled.

"The Games bought us closer together. Winning our gold medal was a memory we are able to cherish forever.

"Kieran was fortunate enough to be able to have new pilots at every Games, so each Games was always a new and exciting experience for him.

"He loved sharing the experiences with new people and giving them the opportunity to wear the green and gold."

At Athens in 2004 Modra claimed gold in both the individual pursuit tandem and the team sprint tandem, establishing himself among the world’s best. In Beijing 2008 he won gold in the individual pursuit tandem in world-record time.  In an extraordinary comeback, after a serious training accident in December 2011 in which he broke two vertebrae in his neck, he rebounded to win gold at the London 2012 Paralympics in the men’s individual pursuit B with pilot Scott McPhee, posting a time of 4:17.756. 

"Kieran was a dedicated athlete putting in 110 per cent every time he got on the bike," Kerry Modra said.

"His resilience and determination to overcome anything made him such an inspiration to many, especially the girls and I.

"He was such a humble person, always willing to share his experiences and inspire others to perform to their best in whatever field they chose. He always had a medal tucked away to share, he encouraged people to hold it, to wear it and so loved watching the joy this brought to people.

"But his biggest joy was encouraging blind and vision impaired people of all ages to get out on a tandem and have fun," Kerry Modra continued. "He wanted them to experience the freedom, fun and friendships that cycling bought to him."

In recognition of his outstanding achievements and his contributions beyond competition - particularly his advocacy for people who are blind or have low vision - Modra was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2014.  Tragically, his life was cut short on 13 November 2019 when he was struck by a car while training north of Adelaide. He was 47. 

"Cycling was one of Kieran's biggest joys in life and I know he would be so honoured and humbled to receive this award, and to have his name alongside so many he looked up to and aspired to be like," said Kerry Modra.