Fin Graham has been on the fast track to success ever since his mum kicked off at a PE teacher for offering him a head start on school sports day. The Scots cyclist was born with two club feet and has no calf muscle on his right leg meaning he has to wear a splint.
But Graham has never looked for favours in the ferociously competitive world of elite level sport. After working his way to the very top of para cycling – winning a double silver at his Paralympics debut in Tokyo three years ago – the 24-year-old is now gunning to go one better in Paris this summer.
Graham is on course to be selected for Team GB after a stunning rise that’s seen him claim 13 world medals including six golds since being thrust into the spotlight in Tokyo. Should he make it he will most likely go head-to-head with GB team mates Jaco van Gass and Ben Watson for the C3 individual pursuit and C1-3 road race titles. In the pursuit in Tokyo he lost out to van Gass despite setting a new world – only for his mate to smash that by 1.013 seconds moments later.
It’s a remarkable story for the Strathpeffer ace – but to him it’s just normal thanks to a mindset forged by his mum Dee and dad Drew. He told Record Sport : “I don’t know any different. I’ve been lucky that my parents have provided me with the opportunity to do this.
“They have always encouraged me to try stuff. There was a point in primary school where my PE teacher wanted to give me a head start in a running race.
“I was obviously well up for that because I would probably have won! But my mum kicked off. She said absolutely not, I shouldn’t get any special treatment.
“Looking back that makes a difference. There’s no reason why I should have got that. I’ve not found anything I’m unable to do. I’ve learned to live with it to explore options and get to a Paralympics.
“I feel I’m coming into this Games a lot more confident. It’s my second time working towards it so I know the processes to go through. Ahead of Tokyo my best result was a bronze medal on the road at a world championships. This last three years I have taken massive steps forward.
“It’s six world titles and 13 medals in total now. It’s been a good couple of years. So I’m hoping to continue that and turn the silvers into golds in Paris. That would be the pinnacle.”
The Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome in Paris is sure to feel and sound a whole lot different to Tokyo three years ago. Back then covid meant there were no spectators in the arena to see Graham smash the world record – and still finish second to his mate.
He said: “Tokyo was my first experience so it was quite nice that I was able to concentrate on my performance without the whole crowd distraction and the hype.
“But now I know what processes to go through, I hope Paris will be a huge atmosphere. It’s as close to a home Games as you can get so I’d like to enjoy that.
“Going to Tokyo my pb for the pursuit was 3.31 – not where it needed to be to win medals. We went to holding camp in Newport and did a pursuit to see where I was – and I broke the world record at the time beating my pb by five seconds.
“I then went seven seconds quicker in Tokyo than I did in holding camp. I was like ‘what just happened there?!’ The world record had been held for five or six years and I had broken it.
“It was a short-lived world record to be fair as Jaco then broke mine five minutes later! We were on another level. Miles ahead of everyone else in the race. It was massively unexpected.
“When you realise you have a medal guaranteed it’s really special. You want to fight for the gold after that but I always knew Jaco would be the one to beat. He managed to pip me but it’s the closest I have ever been to him in the pursuit. To share the podium with him was special.
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(Image: PA)““It’s a good problem having your closest rival as your team mate because you are training alongside him. You can see what they are doing and see what you need to be beating.
“We spend a lot of time away and get on well. It’s a good team dynamic and it makes a lot of the other nations jealous when they see how well we get on.
“Look at Tokyo and it shows how it breeds success. Everyone is buzzing off the first rider medalling and then it snowballs. To be part of that team in Tokyo where everyone medalled was pretty crazy.
“Both my silver medals, those races were won by other GB riders so it’s nice to have two team mates who are best in the world push you in training.”
Graham’s dream is being supported through National Lottery funding and he said: “The support is massive. We wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of the National Lottery. The funding they have invested into the team allows us to do what we do. Thousands of athletes on world class programmes are supported by the National Lottery. It helps fund training facilities, the camps, the coaches. It all helps us do what we do.”
• National Lottery players have transformed Cycling in the UK, with more than £215 million invested since National Lottery funding began. This supports training facilities and camps, coaches, physiotherapists, nutritionists, and psychologists. The funding is also invested in clubs, facilities, and programmes across the country to enable more people to take part in the sport at a grassroots level.