Robert Matthews

Robert Aubrey Matthews (26 May 1961 – 11 April 2018) was a British athlete who competed in blind middle- and long-distance events. He won eight gold medals across seven Paralympic Games, and has been referred to as an "iconic athlete".

Personal life Matthews was born in Kent. He was born with the degenerative eye condition retinitis pigmentosa which he inherited from his father. Matthews started to have significant difficulties with his vision when he was 11, and by age 18 had lost most of his sight. He attended a school for the partially sighted from the age of 13, and went on to study at a college for the blind. The couple had two children. He was awarded honorary masters of arts degrees from Warwick University in 2001, and from Worcester University in 2006.

Matthews was also a sports-massage therapist, and motivational speaker. His autobiography Running Blind was published in 2009.

Sporting career Matthews first competed at the Paralympics in 1984 at the Stoke Mandeville/New York Games. He started off in the B1 class middle- and long-distance events, winning gold in all three disciplines: the 800 m, 1,500 m, and 5,000 m. Four years later, at the Games in Seoul, he retained all three titles. He again won the 5,000 m in 1992, and finished with a silver in the 800 m and bronze in the 1,500 m. This brought his medal tally to 13, eight of which were golds.

Matthews broke 22 world records, and won six world championship and 15 European championship gold medals.

Matthews retired from track and field athletics after failing to win a medal at the 2004 Games in Athens and failing to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games despite setting a new New Zealand record for the 1,500 m event. He began to concentrate on a new sport and competed in blind cycling events at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London as a representative of New Zealand. Matthews also represented New Zealand as a triathlete from 2009.