‘I used to be Strictly star however now I need to be hailed for biking not samba in Paris’
Jody Cundy is set to be recognised extra for his biking than his samba.
The eight-time Paralympic champion swapped his bike for Strictly Come Dancing footwear within the autumn however admits fame for swinging his hips on TV is one thing he needs to alter. The 45-year-old powerhouse is on a mission to make his eighth Games in the summertime and is aware of it could possibly be one final swansong on the Paralympic stage.
The 23-time world champion, who received three golds as a swimmer at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 earlier than switching from the pool to pedals, stated: “I seem to have raised the profile of the sport but people still recognise me for Strictly, not as a cyclist.
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“People say, ‘Oh yeah, remember seeing you on Strictly and seeing you dance,’ so people know who I am, but I need to educate the public over the next six months. You’ve seen me dance, and now this is what I do as my actual day job.
“As opposed to dancing really poorly and trying to pretend I know what I’m doing, this is what I actually do and do really well. Hopefully there are a few people that start watching the sport and are interested off the back of seeing me do something completely different.
“My fellow competitors are getting younger and faster so they’re always kind of pushing me to make me go faster. Realistically, Paris is probably going to be my last Games but we will see how the journey goes and where I end up after 2024.”
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(Image: BBC)
Cundy has received eight gold, one silver and three bronze Paralympic medals throughout his swimming and biking profession. He switched from the pool to the velodrome in 2006 after three Games and has continued to dominate the world stage for nearly 20 years since.
The C4 bicycle owner – who sported a Lightning McQueen-themed prosthetic leg eventually yr’s World Championships in Glasgow – has at all times loved tapping into his inventive facet and revealed there are extra designs within the pipeline for Paris.
He stated: “In Glasgow last summer, my leg design was inspired by Lightning McQueen from Cars, I decided to do it red with a lightning bolt down the side and paint my initials on it.
“I was going into Strictly a few weeks after the World Championships, I had a gold glitter clear coat over the top of it as a secret homage to that. It’s got a nice sparkle to it but it’s starting to get a little bit chipped so there might be a new design for Paris.
“One of my ideas is to try and make it look like the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower and the other one is to make it into a frilly stocking like one of the can-can girls from Moulin Rouge – we’ll see what happens.”
Cundy is the 14-time reigning world C4 1km time trial champion in addition to the defending C4-5 crew dash Paralympic champion alongside Kadeena Cox and Jaco van Gass. His seemingly path to Paris rests on a profitable National and World Championships earlier than the ParalympicsGB squad is chosen.
Cundy is considered one of over 1,000 athletes supported by UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, permitting him to coach full time, have entry to the world’s greatest coaches and profit from pioneering medical assist.
The injection of funding after Atlanta 1996 revolutionised British success on the worldwide stage and as an athlete to have skilled life each earlier than and after its influence, Cundy is conscious about the distinction it makes.
“It seems a long while ago since I had my first Games as a swimmer in Atlanta,” he added. I could not think about doing one or two extra Games, not to mention getting ready for my eighth, so it’s a loopy prospect.
“I’ve had an amazing career that’s really been helped by The National Lottery to keep me at this point. My out-and-out standout gold medal is the team sprint from Tokyo, it’s a team event and one of those ones where if you had to say, it wasn’t the perfect race but it’s the one where everything came together.”
National Lottery gamers elevate greater than £30million every week for good causes together with important funding into sport – from grassroots to elite. Find out how your numbers make superb occur at: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk #TNLAthletes #MakeAmazingHappen
