The patriotic design for Jody Cundy comes from firm behind Oscar Pistorious’ blades, Icelandic firm Össur (Kelkel)
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British Paralympic cycling star Jody
Cundy has unveiled the custom prosthetic leg he’s hoping will power him to a
sixth gold medal in London.
The 33-year-old, who was born with a
deformed foot which was amputated when he was just three, has collaborated with
Össur, the Icelandic company who produced the ‘blades’ for South African
superstar Oscar Pistorious.
It features a special patriotic design
with the Union Jack in the colour scheme of the Stella McCartney-designed
athlete kit. It’s also emblazoned with the names of all the people who’ve
helped him throughout his stellar career, plus a medal board of the ten he’s picked up
at Paralympics and world championships down the years.
“It’s a whole new leg for London,” said Cundy. “It’s
a refinement of the leg I had in Beijing
with new positioning and alignment and refined aerodynamics. I think the leg
looks stunning and it is a thank you to everyone who has helped me on my
journey to the Games, right from when I started competing up until now.
“I love customising my leg. With so many
restrictions on kit and other pieces of equipment it’s nice to have a bit of
creative freedom and stand out from the crowd.”
Richard Hirons, lead prosthetist of
Össur, added: “It happens to be a thing of beauty and I’m very satisfied with
the result. “We’ve been very pleased at Össur to work with Jody and his
coaching and support team on this collaborative project.
“We know that Jody
will do his best when he’s called to the line, as he always does. In prosthetic
terms we’ve been granted the opportunity to pay attention to details that often
we’re not able to do. But whatever our contribution, it is Jody who has put in
the hours and the effort that is the real headline. And for that, he has our
support, admiration and best wishes.”
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