PARALYMPIC medal-winning cyclist James Brown needs a helping hand to keep his Rio 2016 bid on track following his move to Wiltshire.

The partially-sighted 50-year-old, who won a bronze medal for Ireland in the tandem road time trial, accompanied by pilot Damien Shaw, at London 2012 , recently relocated to Easterton from Gloucestershire and is on the lookout for a driver to help him travel to training and competitions.

Brown has a rich history in international sport. The Belfast-born competitor won 800m and 1500m athletics gold medals for Great Britain at the 1984 Paralympics in New York and also went to three Winter games as a cross-country skier before taking up cycling three years ago.

He is looking to blaze a trail to the next Paralympics in Brazil, with a little help along the way.

“I’ve done a lot of different sports over the years and cycling is the latest thing. I wanted to just try and get to London and that was an achievement for me, but then I ended up winning a medal,” said Brown, who is sponsored by Saddleback cycle shop in Yate.

“I’ve competed for Great Britain in the past, but their policy is a bit different to Ireland in terms of older competitors, so I rode for Ireland in 2012.

“You can do that, even if you were born in Northern Ireland and I’m definitely aiming to get to Rio now.

“My girlfriend (Jane Kostelnik) is now a GP in Market Lavington, so I’ve ended up coming to Wiltshire.

“When I was in Gloucestershire, I had a neighbour who helped drive me around to the airport or Newport Velodrome, and I need to find somebody local to do the same thing for me.

“It would be great to find someone with an interest in cycling, so that they can come and watch the competitions too.”

Brown was born with around five per cent of his sight.

He said: “It doesn’t sound like a lot but I don’t walk around with a stick or a dog.

“The way I explain it is that if you could read a number plate from 20-25 metres, I would need to get right next to it and get right up close to make it out.

“I’ve learned to get on with things but I do have a few instances where I go to the shop for one thing and come back with another – the packets for teabags and tampons are actually quite similar!”

Anyone interested in helping Brown can contact him on 07712 612801 or at jamesbrowncycling@gmail.com.

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