Visually impaired cyclists have victory in sight at UCI championships after GCU steps in

Visually impaired athletes competing in the UCI Cycling World Championships have been getting a helping hand from eye experts at Glasgow Caledonian University.

The University’s Vision Centre opened its doors to provide free optometry facilities, and staff and student support, to the Championship’s team of Vision Classification Assessors to allow them to run all the necessary sight testing before the event kicks off on Thursday in Glasgow.

The Centre is based in the School of Health and Life Sciences’ Department of Vision Sciences and has such a great reputation as a centre for eyecare excellence that the event organisers got in touch the moment they found out the Championships were coming to Glasgow.

More than 7,000 athletes will be taking part in the UCI World Cycling Championships from August 3-13 at various locations in Scotland, with eight out of 13 being held in Glasgow. The event, funded by Glasgow City Council and organised by Glasgow Life, includes BMX competitions, acrobatic cycling, mountain biking and para-cycling races.

The para-cycling competitions comprise four groups of handicaps (blind and visually impaired riders, people with cerebral palsy, locomotor disabilities and handcycling) and a total of 14 functional categories for men and women in all the age categories, defined by the UCI. The Vision Classification Assessors make sure the riders are placed in the appropriate category in light of their functional capacity.

Vision Centre Business Manager Michael Welsh said he was delighted to welcome the visually impaired cyclists from around the world and their assessors to the Glasgow campus.

Fourth year optometry student Hannah Silcock, who assisted the Vision Classification Assessors, said: “It’s fantastic to be involved in something as big as this and meeting the athletes from all over the world has been an amazing experience.”

Cyclists who came through the Vision Centre doors for assessment were from Malaysia, Italy, Columbia, Poland, USA, Denmark, Ghana and across the UK.

Michael said: “It was a privilege to meet the visually impaired cyclists and the assessors, and to be part of something so big. It’s exciting for us all to be involved and help out in any way we can. We’re all about being part of the community and its events.

“As the University for the Common Good, based in the heart of Glasgow, we were delighted to be asked to help out at the UCI Cycling World Championships. We provided the event’s Vision Classification Assessors with free use of our excellent facilities, and the support and hospitality of our staff and students.

“Myself and my academic colleague Dr Dirk Seidel have been in discussion with UCI and Glasgow Life for a number of weeks to make sure they have all the services in place to make sure the classification process runs smoothly.”

Vision Classification Assessor Alexandre Gomes, from Brazil, praised the University and said: “This is an excellent facility for assessing the visually impaired cyclists, and it was great to have the support from the staff and students. They were very welcoming.”

In addition to providing Vision Sciences students with valuable clinical experience, the Vision Centre serves the community, both through the provision of eye tests to the general public, and supporting the NHS by enabling the referral to a number of specialist clinics for patients with a range of vision and eye health problems.

Picture shows Vision Centre student Hannah Silcock and visually impaired cyclist Otylia Marczuk, from Poland.