Jon-allan butterworth biography of barack

Sir Chris Hoy, British Cycling President Brian Cookson OBE, former Olympian Geoff Cooke, multiple BMX world champion Shanaze Reade and para-cycling world champion Jon-Allan Butterworth carried the Olympic flame for cycling as it made its way through Greater Manchester this weekend.

Above: Sir Chris Hoy drew in big crowds as he carried the torch along Deansgate in central Manchester.

Crowds lined Deansgate in central Manchester as Sir Chris Hoy completed his leg of the torch relay. Manchester has become the adopted home of Edinburgh born Hoy and the Manchester crowds greeted the Scot as one of their own.

Speaking to the Press Association, Hoy revealed that for him the torch relay had been a 'family affair':

"My mum carried the torch just outside Wigan, my great uncle Andy carried it just outside Dundee and I watched them both online on the live-cam and it was very emotional to see what it meant, particularly to my great uncle Andy."

"He's 95 years of age and to see how many people from the community came out to support him, it was phenomenal.

"It just shows the Olympic torch, it's not about gold medals, it's about communities coming together and supporting people who have made a difference to them."

Above left: British Cycling President Brian Cookson lights his torch for cycling: "I am not just there as an individual but also as a representative of the whole sport of cycling... ...all of the people who keep the sport running behind the scenes."

Brian Cookson, who became British Cycling President in 1996 and has held the role ever since, was among an illustrious list of cyclists including Great Britain’s most successful Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, para-cycling world champion Jon-Allan Butterworth, former Olympian and multiple masters world champion Geoff Cooke and former national junior time trial champion Claire Dixon.

Speaking prior to his torch relay, Cookson said:

“I am of course

Paralympic champion Jon-Allan Butterworth has retired from professional cycling.

The former RAF weapons technician, 34, won mixed team sprint gold at Rio 2016 alongside Jody Cundy and Louis Rolfe.

Butterworth - a three-time silver medallist at London 2012 - joined British Cycling in 2007, 10 weeks after having his arm amputated because of injuries suffered in Iraq.

"I have enjoyed a long and successful career," Butterworth said.

"My proudest achievement is becoming the first British ex-serviceman to win a gold in Paralympic history.

"I have had the pleasure of working with some truly amazing people who have helped make it all possible."

Butterworth's decision comes just over eight months before the delayed Tokyo Paralympic Games begin.

He continued: "On reflection at the end of this strange year, the time feels right to retire from professional cycling so that I can focus my energy on the next step of my career.

"I wish my team-mates all the very best in their preparations for Tokyo 2021 and I thank them for all the memories."

Butterworth set a world record for the C5 kilo at his debut UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships event in Montichiari, Italy in 2011, the first of 10 world championship medals that included four golds.

A Paralympic cyclist has become the first British serviceman or woman injured in Iraq or Afghanistan to win a gold medal - nearly a decade after losing his arm.

Jon-Allan Butterworth, 30, won gold in the C1-5 mixed team sprint with team mates Jody Cundy and Louis Rolfe in what looks set to become Britain's best Paralympic day in Rio yet.

Butterworth, from Sutton Coldfield, enjoyed proudly raised his arms for the crowd as he enjoyed the moment, helping Great Britain to their well deserved second place in the medals table.

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The cyclist had joined the RAF as a weapons technician aged 16 and was just 21 in 2007 when he lost his arm in a place known as 'rocket ally' in Basra, Iraq. 

He has described how he heard the rocket sizzling and the shrapnel from the blast tore through his left arm.

He tied his own tourniquet to stem blood spurting from a severed artery, but doctors in Birmingham were forced to amputate above the elbow.

During a period of rehabilitation he returned to work in a desk job for the RAF but found a new purpose when a Paralympics GB talent recruitment programme identified him as a promising talent.

Jon-Allan Butterworth is almost laughing as he says his life has become immeasurably better since losing his left arm in a rocket attack in Iraq. He knows some will be disbelieving — but he means it.

‘Losing my arm worked out brilliantly for me,’ he says. ‘I wouldn’t change anything about my injury because my life the last nine years has been absolutely mega, way better than when I was in the military. I’ve got so many options for what I want to do with my career after Rio, that’s my biggest problem.

‘So who’s more disadvantaged, a disabled athlete with loads of opportunities, or someone who’s stuck in a rut, in a job they’ve been in their whole life and just does it to put food on the table?’

Butterworth was 21 in 2007 and serving as a weapons technician for the RAF in an area of Basra known by British forces as ‘rocket alley’ when he heard a sizzling sound heading straight for where he was stood. The shrapnel from the blast tore through his left arm and, despite tying his own tourniquet to stem blood spurting from a severed artery, doctors in Birmingham were forced to amputate above the elbow.

During a period of rehabilitation he returned to work in a desk job for the RAF but was identified by a ParalympicsGB talent recruitment programme and joined the Great Britain cycling squad two years later.

At London 2012 he won three silver medals although, having won a World Championship title in cycling’s mixed team sprint this year alongside Louis Rolfe and Jody Cundy, he insists he would trade them all in for one gold in Rio.

‘It sounds harsh but those medals don’t mean that much,’ he says. ‘I’ve got one in a display cabinet at home and I go to schools and talk about my achievements — and that’s great — but I don’t mind if the ribbon gets broken or frayed because they [kids] enjoy