Karen Darke

Karen Darke FRSGS (born 25 June 1971) is a British paralympic cyclist, paratriathlete, adventurer and author. She competed at the 2016 Rio Paralympics winning Gold in the Women's road time trial, following her success in the 2012 London Paralympics winning a silver medal in the Women's road time trial H1-2.

Darke was born in Halifax, Yorkshire. She is paralysed from the chest down following an accident, aged 21, whilst sea cliff climbing.

In October 2012, she competed in her first ITU Paratriathlon World Championships. She won the gold medal in her TRI-1 classification. She went on to compete for Scotland in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia, finishing 4th.

In 2014 Darke took a silver medal in the UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in South Carolina in the H3 time-trial, following it up with a bronze in the H3 road race.

On 14 September 2016 Darke won the gold medal in the Women's time trial H1-3 at the Rio Paralympics in a time of 33:44:93.

Darke is an ambassador for World Jenny's Day, a non-profit charitable organisation that brings awareness to teen suicide, and looks to normalise conversations around mental health. For her part, Darke will be riding across the 'Rooftop of Africa' on specially designed hand-powered trikes in August 2023, as a World Jenny's Day fundraiser endorsed by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Darke was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to sport, particularly cycling and triathlon.

Personal life Darke graduated from the University of Leeds in 1992 with a degree in Chemistry and Geological Science. Darke has a doctorate in geology from the University of Aberdeen which she gained in 1996 and an MA from the University of Cumbria in development training and diplomas in performance coaching and traditional Chinese medicine.

Books She has written three books: If You Fall (2006) Boundless (2012) Quest 79: Find your inner gold (2017)

Websites

The Pole of Possibilities An interview with Karen