David Nicholas, OAM (born 1 December 1991) is an Australian cyclist. He won silver and gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympics and a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.[1][2]
 2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Nicholas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 December 1991 Perth, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Cycling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | C3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal
editDavid Aron Nicholas was born on 1 December 1991 in Rockhampton.[3][4] He has cerebral palsy.[5] Other sports he participates include karate.[6] As of 2016[update] he lived in the Queensland town of Proserpine.[3][7] where he worked as IT Support Officer at Whitsunday Regional Council.[3]
Nicholas now lives in Bathurst NSW, where he lives with his fiancé Emilie Miller, herself an accomplished international athlete.[8]
Cycling
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Nicholas is a C3 classified cyclist who competes in road and track events.[3] At the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Roskilde, Denmark, he won the gold medal in the Men's Time Trial C3 and silver medal in the Men's Road Race C3.[3] In 2012, he participated in the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles, where he finished first in the C3 3 km individual pursuit.[5][9] In the lead up to the 2012 London Paralympics, he participated in the Blenheim Palace festival of cycling time trial event.[10][11][12] At the games, Nicholas won a gold medal in the Men's Individual C 3 Road Time Trial and a bronze medal in the Men's Individual C1–3 Road Race.[13] He also participated in the Men's 1 km Time Trial C1–3, Men's Individual Pursuit C3 and Mixed Team Sprint C1–5 events.[13]
Competing at the 2013 Para-cycling Road World Championships, Baie-Comeau, Canada, he won a gold medal in the Men's Individual Time Trial C3.[14] At the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, he won a bronze medal in the Men's 3 km Individual Pursuit C3.[15]
At the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships Nottwil, Switzerland, he finished seventh in the Men's Time Trial C3 and Men's Road Race C3.[16][17]
Nicholas won the gold medal in the Men's 3 km Individual Pursuit C3 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He set a Paralympic record of 3:32.336 in qualifying for the gold medal race.[18] His other results were fourth in the Men's Road Time Trial C3 and fifth in the Men's Road Time Trial C3 and sixth in the Mixed Sprint.[19]
At the 2017 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles, United States, Nicholas won the gold medal in the Men's 3 km Individual Pursuit C3, a silver medal in Men's 1 km Time Trial C3 and a bronze medal in the Men's Scratch Race C1-3.[20]
At the 2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, he finished ninth in the Men's Time Trial C3 and 13th in the Men's Road Race C1-3.[21]
At the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nicholas won the gold medal in the Men's 3 km Individual Pursuit C3.
At the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he won the gold medal in the Men's 3 km Pursuit C3[22]
Nicholas won a third straight world crown in C3 individual pursuit category at the 2019 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.[23] He also won the gold medal in the Men's Scratch Race C3 and finished third in the Omnium Test Event C3.[24]
At the 2019 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, Emmen, Netherlands, he won the gold medal in the Men's Time Trial C3 and tenth in the Men's Road Race C3.[25]
At the 2020 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, Milton, Ontario, he won the gold medal in the Men's Individual Pursuit C3 and finished sixth in the Men's Scratch Race C3.[26]
Nicholas won his fourth Paralympic medal, in winning the bronze medal in the Men's 3km Pursuit C3 at the 2020 Summer Paralympics with a time of 3:25.877.[27] He finished 18th in the Men's Road Race C1–3 and eighth in the Men's Road Time Trial C3.[28]
At the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, he won the bronze medal in Men's Omnium C4.[29]
At the 2024 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he finished fourth in both the Men's Time Trial and Individual Pursuit C3 events.[30]
Recognition
editHe was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."[4] In November 2016, he was awarded the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association Sporting Wheelie of The Year.[31] He was awarded Cycling Australia's Male Elite Para-Cyclist for 2016 and 2017.[32][33] In November 2017, he was awarded Queensland Sport Athlete with a Disability.[34]
