Rio Paralympic gold medallist Sophie Thornhill visits Stockport County

Rio Paralympic Gold Medal winner,Sophie Thornhill with Stockport County striker Jimmy Ball
Sophie Thornhill with Stockport County striker Jimmy Ball (Pic: www.mphotographic.co.uk)

Stockport County played host to Rio Paralympic cycling gold medallist Sophie Thornhill when she visited Edgeley Park before the FA Cup clash with Woking.

Poynton track cyclist Sophie and pilot Helen Scott stormed to gold in the 1,000m tandem sprint in Rio, setting a new Paralympic record of 1:06.283 in the process.

The partially-sighted athlete then took bronze in the 3000m pursuit in her first Paralympic games.

Her incredible success at the Paralympics has been the culmination of years of hard work, having won two gold medals at the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as well as four world titles.

Sophie, 20, who went to Poynton High School, the same school as fellow para-cycling world champion Dame Sarah Storey, joined the Great Britain Cycling Team in 2013 and has had three years of outstanding success.

County’s commercial manager Simon Dawson said: “It was a pleasure to have Sophie at the game, her commitment and enthusiasm is infectious and we were delighted she could join us for the FA Cup tie with Woking.”