Randwick Botany rider awarded OAM

Randwick Botany Cycling Club member and Australian Paralympic Team member Janelle Lindsay has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal for service to sport as a gold medalist at the 2004 Paralympic Games.

Lindsay was run over by a car in August 2003, suffering a broken back, hip, pelvis and shoulder. After months of rehabilitation, Lindsay remounted the bike, trained hard, and qualified to be a pilot on a tandem bicycle at the Athens Games with visually impaired rider Lindy Hou, who was awarded an OAM along with other Australian gold medallists at last year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Athens. Lindsay and Hou won bronze in the 1km time trial and broke the world record and won gold in the women's tandem sprint in Athens.

"Winning gold with Lindy in the Tandem Sprint at Athens is something I will never forget, seeing the Aussie flag and hearing the anthem, there were a few tears, but mostly a big smile," Lindsay said. "I am surprised and honoured to receive the OAM, but it was a team effort with Lindy who had a lot of faith in me recovering from such a serious injury. I am so happy for Lindy being awarded an OAM as well.

"My family and partner Tom are very proud of Lindy and I. My grandmother Ethel Lindsay from Bathurst said she is over-the-moon with pride."