Sydney's Amanda Reid has become the first para-cyclist and first Indigenous rider to win the Sir Hubert Opperman Trophy as the national governing body's cyclist of the year. Reid, 27, accepted the award on Thursday during AusCycling’s virtual awards ceremony. The Guringai and Wemba Wemba woman joins last year’s winner Jai Hindley and Australian greats Cadel Evans and Anna Meares on the Oppy Medal honour roll. “It’s amazing to join the list of Australian greats, and it’s not lost on me how special it is to be the first para-cyclist and first Indigenous Australian to win the Oppy,” Reid said. “There’s been so many amazing Australian para-cyclists that have come before me and some that are still my teammates, which makes all of this even more of an honour. “I hope this opens more doors for para-cyclists to be able to win this prestigious award, as well as turning more eyes to the success of Australian para-cycling.”
Born with cerebral palsy and an intellectual impairment, Reid began her journey to becoming an elite sportswoman as a child competing in short-track speed skating.
She took to swimming as a teenager, competing in the pool at the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the age of 15.
She then turned her attention to para-cycling, claiming silver in the women’s C2 500m time trial at the 2016 Para-cycling Track World Championships in Italy - her first international medal on the bike.
Since then, Reid has won 10 golds among 17 world championship medals, including five in her pet event - the 500m time trial.
It was over that distance that Reid broke through on the biggest stage for para-cycling, winning gold in 2021 at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
In 2023, Reid won the women’s C2 500m time trial at the world championships in Glasgow.
Just for good measure, she also collected a snowboard cross gold medal at the sport's world championships in Italy earlier this year.
There were three other finalists for the Opperman Trophy: fellow para-cyclist and H3 time trial world champion Lauren Parker; BMX Freestyle World Cup winner and 2023 world championship silver medallist Logan Martin; and Kaden Groves, who won four stages this year across La Vuelta a Espana and the Giro d’Italia.
In all, 38 awards were presented. Major winners include -
Cyclist of the Year/Sir Hubert Opperman Trophy: Amanda Reid Women’s BMX Freestyle: Natalya Diehm
Men’s BMX Freestyle: Logan Martin Women’s BMX Racing: Saya Sakakibara Men’s BMX Racing: Bodi Turner Women’s Mountain Bike: Rebecca Henderson Men’s Mountain Bike: Ryan Gilchrist Women’s Road Para: Lauren Parker Men’s Road Para: Darren Hicks Women’s Track Para: Amanda Reid Men’s Track Para: Darren Hicks Women’s Road: Grace Brown Men’s Road: Kaden Groves Women’s Track: Georgia Baker Men’s Track: Matthew Richardson Team of the Year: men’s team sprint (Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson, Matthew Glaetzer, Thomas Cornish)
