Stephanie Morton

Stephanie Morton

Morton on the starting line at the 2013 International Track Series at the Adelaide Superdrome
Personal information
Nationality	Australia
Born	28 November 1990
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Cycling
Club	South Coast Cycling Club
Medal record Cycling Paralympic Games 2012 London 1km Time Trial B VI 1–3 Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow Sprint 2014 Glasgow 500 m time trial UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships 2012 Los Angeles B Tandem 1 km Time Trial 2012 Los Angeles B Tandem Sprint

Stephanie Morton OAM (born 28 November 1990) is an Australian cyclist. She has won national and international cycling titles, and was Felicity Johnson's tandem pilot at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where she won a gold medal.

Personal

Stephanie Morton was born in Adelaide on 28 November 1990.^[1][2] As of 2013, she works for the "Bee Safe on Bikes" education program for junior primary school students.^[1]

Cycling

Stephanie Morton and Felicity Johnson riding at the announcement of the 2012 Australian Paralympic cycling team

Morton is a member of South Coast Cycling Club and is part of Team Jayco AIS.^[1] She started cycling competitively at the age of 15.^[1] Competing at the 2011 National Keirin Final, she finished second behind Anna Meares.^[1] She made her Australian national team debut at the 2011 Para-cycling Track World Championships with Felicity Johnson.^[1] She has said forming a friendship and real partnership was key for the pair's success.^[3]

In 2012, she participated in the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles as the pilot for Johnson, and finished first in the B tandem 1 km time trial and the B Tandem sprint.^[4][5] At the 2012 London Paralympics, they won a gold medal in the Women's 1 km Time Trial B event,^[6] and were subsequently awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."^[7]

In November 2012, Morton came first in the Keirin and second in the sprint at the Oceania Track Championships.^[1] In the third round of the 2012–13 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in Aguascalientes, Mexico, she came first in the team sprint with Kaarle McCulloch and 6th in the keirin, while at the 2013 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk, Belarus, she came fourth in the team sprint (with McCulloch) and sixth in the individual sprint.^[1]

At the 2013 Australian National Track Championships in Sydney, she came first in the keirin, individual sprint, and team sprint (with Rikki Belder).^[1][8] In February 2014, she scored an upset win at the Australian track cycling championships by beating Anna Meares in the Keiren for the first time. Meares tweeted a photo of a cap that she had signed for Morton five years before, on which she had written: "Steph, maybe one day you'll beat me".^[9]

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Morton competed in the track sprint and 500 m time trial, while Johnson had a new partner, Holly Takos.^[10] Morton rode a personal best time of 34.079 in the 500 m time trial at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, but won silver after Anna Meares posted a faster time.^[11] However, she defeated Meares in the track sprint, winning two heats to none in the best-of-three final to take the gold medal.^[12]

References

1. "Stephanie Morton". Cycling Australia. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
2. "Stephanie Morton". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
3. "Partners in the fast lane". The Age. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
4. "Para-Cyclones Golden Finish to Worlds Campaign". International Business Times. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
5. "Stephanie Morton". Darwin Cycling Club. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
6. Results for Stephanie Morton from the International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
7. "Australia Day honours list 2014: in full". Daily Telegraph. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
8. "South Australia And Victoria Strike Gold During Opening Session Of 2013 Track Nationals". Cycling Australia. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
9. "Stephanie Morton beats favourite Anna Meares in keirin final at national track cycling titles". 1 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
10. Paxinos, Stathi (22 July 2014). "Stephanie Morton and Felicity Johnson together but apart at Commonwealth Games". The Age.
11. Corkhill, Barney (25 July 2014). "Stephanie Morton "stoked" by personal best in 500m time trial final". Sports Mole. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
12. Coventry, James (28 July 2014). "Commonwealth Games: Stephanie Morton beats Anna Meares to win gold medal in women's sprint in Glasgow". ABC Grandstand. Retrieved 28 July 2014.