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with Matt“ Duck Man” Austin
Australia has long been home to exceptional sports stars, particularly in track cycling— and Gordon Allan is no exception. If his name is unfamiliar to you now, it’ s one to remember.
Born with cerebral palsy affecting all four limbs due to a loss of oxygen at birth, Gordon’ s journey is one of resilience and determination. He attended Patrician Brothers’ College in Blacktown and is currently studying a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science at Western Sydney University. A passionate sportsman from a young age, he competed in swimming, athletics, and football( soccer), even representing Australia at the Under-19s Football World Championships.
Photo: Auscycling.
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Although Gordon first attended a Paralympics Australia talent day in 2011, it was Paralympic cyclist Peter Brooks who encouraged him to take up cycling. He joined the Parramatta Cycling Club and began training with the Western Sydney Academy of Sport( WSAS), setting his wheels in motion. After moving to Parklife Cycling Club, Gordon claimed his first national titles in 2016, winning both the para-cycling road time trial and road race in Adelaide.
However, his greatest success would come on the velodrome. In 2018, Gordon made his international debut at the Paracycling Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, finishing fifth in the C2 1,000m time trial. He followed this with a silver medal in the same event in Apeldoorn in 2019— his first World Championship podium. In 2020, he claimed bronze at the World Championships in Milton, Canada.
Gordon made his Paralympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games( held in 2021), finishing fifth in the C1 – 3 time trial and ninth in the C1 – 5 mixed team sprint. He continued his medal-winning streak at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in France, earning bronze
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in both the men’ s C2 1,000m time trial and the mixed C1 – 5 team sprint.
In 2023, he secured silver in the C2 1,000m time trial at the World Championships in Glasgow. A year later, at the 2024 Championships in Rio, he added another silver in the same event and a bronze in the team sprint.
At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Gordon became a Paralympic medallist, winning bronze in the C1 – 5 Team Sprint alongside Alistair Donohoe and Korey Boddington. He also achieved a personal best of 1:09.403 in the 1,000m time trial, finishing fifth, and competed in the C1 – 3 road race.
Now 27, Gordon is not only a worldclass athlete but also an inspiration to others, including para-triathlete Matty Engesser. Remarkably, he didn’ t ride a bike until he was 13, fearing he lacked the balance.“ Earlier on, I just thought that riding a bike was not going to be achievable,” he once said in an interview with the NSW Institute of Sport.
It wasn’ t until watching the 2012 London Paralympics on TV that he learned about the Games and set his sights on becoming a Paralympian. That dream
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Photo: Auscycling.
came full circle in March 2025, when he won the national championship in the 1,000m time trial at the AusCycling Track National Championships at Brisbane’ s Anna Meares Velodrome.
A truly remarkable achievement from a truly remarkable athlete.
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