Stephanie Morton, OAM (born 28 November 1990) is a retired Australian track cyclist who participated in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. 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. As of 2013[update], she works for the "Bee Safe on Bikes" education program for junior primary school students.

Cycling

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

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. At the 2012 London Paralympics, they won a gold medal in the Women's 1 km Time Trial B event, 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."

In November 2012, Morton came first in the Keirin and second in the sprint at the Oceania Track Championships. 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.

At the 2013 Australian National Track Championships in Sydney, she came first in the keirin, individual sprint, and team sprint (with Rikki Belder). 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".

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. 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. However, she defeated Meares in the track sprint, winning two heats to none in the best-of-three final to take the gold medal.

Major results

2011

1st Tandem B – 1000m Time Trial, UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships (Pilot for Felicity Johnson)

1st Tandem B – 1000m Time Trial, New Zealand Oceania Para-Cycling Regional Cup (Pilot for Felicity Johnson)

2012

1st Tandem B – 1000m Time Trial, Paralympic Games (Pilot for Felicity Johnson)

UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships 1st Tandem B – 1000m Time Trial (Pilot for Felicity Johnson) 1st Tandem B – Sprint (Pilot for Felicity Johnson)

2013

Melbourne Cup on Wheels 1st Keirin 2nd Sprint

2014

Oceania Track Championships 1st Keirin 1st Sprint 1st Team Sprint (with Kaarle McCulloch)

Commonwealth Games 1st Sprint 2nd 500m Time Trial

Adelaide Cycling Grand Prix 1st Sprint 2nd Keirin

1st Sprint, Super Drome Cup

2nd Sprint, South Australian Track Classic

2015

Oceania Track Championships 1st Keirin 1st Team Sprint 2nd Sprint

3rd Sprint, Super Drome Cup

2016

Austral 1st Keirin 1st Sprint

Oceania Track Championships 2nd Keirin 3rd Sprint

2nd Sprint, ITS Melbourne DISC Grand Prix

2nd Sprint, ITS Melbourne Grand Prix

2016 Summer Olympic Games =13th Cycling Track Keirin 13th Cycling Track Sprint 4th Cycling Track Sprint

2017

Oceania Track Championships 1st Team Sprint (with Kaarle McCulloch) 1st Sprint 1st Keirin

Australian Track Championships 1st Sprint 1st Team Sprint (with Rikki Belder) 1st Keirin

ITS Melbourne – DISC Grand Prix 1st Keirin 1st Sprint

ITS Melbourne – Hisense Grand Prix 1st Keirin 1st Sprint

Austral 1st Keirin 2nd Sprint

UCI World Track Championships 2nd Sprint 2nd Team Sprint (with Kaarle McCulloch)

2nd Sprint, Round 1, (Pruszków) Track Cycling World Cup

2018

Commonwealth Games 1st Team Sprint (with Kaarle McCulloch) 1st Sprint 1st Keirin 2nd 500m Time Trial

External links