Fachie wants ‘positive news’ in Paris after theft in Rio

Six months after he was mugged in Rio, Scottish cyclist Neil Fachie wants to create ‘positive news’ at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Fachie, his wife Lora and her pilot Corrine Hall saw their silver medals and other belongings stolen in March as they returned to their hotel on the opening day of the Para-cycling Track World Championships.

The Aberdeen native, who suffers from the congenital eye condition retinitis pigmentosa, insists the incident is “now a thing of the past” and that he and Lora – who is also competing – are fully focused on achieving their success in France.

“It was the first time I’ve been mugged abroad but it does happen so it’s not ideal. But the fact that we’ve been selected for the Paralympics makes up for everything,” Fachie told BBC Scotland.

“We are here, it is in the past now and I am sure Lora and Corrine want to put an end to this.

“I want to get the most out of these races and not dwell too much on the negative things that happen, because they are irrelevant when I look back on my cycling career.

“It’s just something that happened along the way. The medals and stuff are things that I’m going to remember, not that. So let’s make a few more memories this time, if we can, and hopefully that means a gold medal as well.

“It would be nice to show off those medals, put them on social media and spread some positive news, instead of tweeting about robberies and stuff like that, because that’s not really my thing.”

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The two Paralympic gold medals that Fachie has won are undoubtedly highlights in his illustrious cycling career.

He and driver Matt Rotherham are strongly backed to take first place on the podium in Paris.

“We’re going as favorites, there’s no denying that,” he explained. “We’re reigning world champions, we have the world record, we’re defending Paralympic champions, so everyone will be looking at us.

“There is one unique thing at these Games that they have not done before, which we have done recently at the World Championships. We have to do a qualifying round and a final instead of just one round.

“It changes the dynamics of the event quite a bit, but we’ve been successful with that change. It makes it more challenging, you now have to deliver twice instead of once.

“But we are in a good position. There is no reason why we cannot win gold, except that our rivals are planning to beat us. They are quite strong and I am sure they will do well.”

And the 40-year-old Scot, who is competing in the Paralympics for the fifth time, has warned his rivals that he has no plans to put his bike away for good for the time being.

“I’m going to keep going, but there’s no getting away from the fact that I’m 40 and that seems quite old from an athletic point of view, but I’m still going hard and I’m still enjoying it, so I probably want to keep going for a while,” he added.

“Four years is a long time, and who knows if I’ll make it to Los Angeles (for the 2028 Paralympic Games) at the age of 44.

“I think about what the future holds in sports. There will come a time when it’s going to happen and I have a mortgage to pay, so I’ll have to do something. But right now I’m going to keep going and see what happens. When the time is right, I’ll know for sure.”

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