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Jody Cundy unveils custom prosthetic leg he hopes will help power him to Paralympic success in London (+ gallery)

Leg with custom design is produced by same firm that makes artificial limbs for Oscar Pistorius

Jody Cundy has unveiled the prosthetic leg that he hopes will help him add to his gold medal count at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, where he is reigning Kilo and team time trial champion for his class.

The custom-designed limb, made by the same company that supplies prosthetic legs to South African runner Oscar Pistorius, has a union flag motive plus the names of all those who have helped the 33-year-old Cundy amass ten Paralympic and World Championship cycling gold medals in his career to date – he has another six in his former sport swimming.

Graphics depicting those ten cycling golds also appear on the leg, which Cundy, born with a deformed foot which was amputated when he was aged three years, unveiled yesterday at the Manchester Velodrome.

“It’s a whole new leg for London,” he said. “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,” he went on. “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.”

Gary Forshaw, who designed the leg on behalf of Iceland-based Össur, added: “In the initial meetings we had to discuss the design Jody already had a fairly good idea of what he wanted, so from there it was just a case of getting those ideas on paper and then eventually onto the prosthesis.

“The aim was to create an eye-catching, iconic design, and to find a way to include all the names without distracting too much from the overall look – and hopefully we've managed to achieve that in the end. I think it looks great! “

Richard Hirons, lead prosthetist at Össur, said: “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.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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3 comments

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The _Kaner | 11 years ago
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Phenomenal looking kit....UCI/IOC approved???
One sided aerodynamics on the bike...wouldn't that put a slight offset into the bike??

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lokikontroll | 11 years ago
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This video might help. Go straight to 1:08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWjwxcg_mwQ

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Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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Although I'm thankful to both my legs in working order. If I did not, one like that would be awesome, I love the touches of the gold medals and names of everyone.

The one thing I'd like to know, Is the bottom straight onto a cleat? I can't quite make out, but thats how it looks

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