David
Nicholas

Rising track and road cycling star David Nicholas made the best possible start to his international career when he won gold in the 3000m individual pursuit and silver in the 1000m time trial at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen.

Born with cerebral palsy affecting his speech and motor skills, David began his sporting career as a T38-classified athlete in middle- and long-distance running. Although his dad competed in cycling at club level, David had never thought to pursue it until it was suggested as a form of rehabilitation for a dislocated knee.

It did not take long for him to fall in love with the sport and with his dad as coach, he soon made a name for himself on the Australian cycling circuit.

David made his Paralympic debut in London in 2012, where he competed in five events and medalled in two, winning gold in the road time trial C3 and bronze in the road race C1-3.

At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games he won gold in the individual pursuit C3.

Within the Australian Para-cycling team, David has earned himself the nickname ‘Schlek’ due to his physical similarity to 2010 Tour de France champion Andy Schlek. Considering his medal record to date, David is on a similar road to success – but not without his share of injuries.

Before he began cycling competitively, David dislocated his knee twice and in 2011 he flew over the handlebars of his bike during track training and broke his jaw, causing him to miss that year’s national championships.

In early 2015 he spent three days in a coma in intensive care after contracting pulmonary pneumonia. Despite muscle loss and fatigue, he recovered enough to compete at the national championships the following week, where he won gold in three events.

At his third Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020, David won his fourth Paralympic medal when put down a time of 3:25.0877 to claim bronze in the men’s 3000m individual pursuit C3. In the men’s road race C1-3, he finished 18^th with a time of 2:21:08. His Tokyo campaign came to an end with the men’s road time trial C3, placing eighth in 36:56.79.

Outside of cycling, the Bathurst local is employed as an IT Field Support Officer. In his spare time he enjoys playing with his one year old Labrador Liv in the back yard, throwing the ball to her and listening to music.