An army veteran has won two medals for cycling at the Invictus Games, wearing a prosthetic leg designed for him by a Bournemouth University (BU) academic.
Craig Preece, who had a below the knee amputation after being injured by a roadside bomb while serving in Afghanistan, is competing for Great Britain in the Games.
He won gold in the Men’s Road Bike Circuit Race and silver in the Men’s Road Bike Time Trial wearing a state-of-the-art prosthetic limb created by BU Product Design lecturer Dr Bryce Dyer.
Bryce has been working with both Craig and prosthetists at Pace Rehabilitation to design the limb.
Bryce said: “The research project originally originated from the starting point that I was curious to know how important a prosthetic limb might or might not be when cycling competitively.
“For me personally, I really enjoy doing research that has tangible real world applications – particularly in elite sport, which is a major passion of mine both inside and outside of the university.”
Bryce has also worked with Irish Paralympic cyclist Colin Lynch, with the prosthetic designs optimised to accommodate the athletes' own personal needs for competing.
“I worked with Pace Rehabilitation to really see if we could optimise the aerodynamics, weight, construction and general biomechanics of the original project," said Bryce"
“That led to one design being specifically tailored for Craig, and another new one for Colin. It was ultimately their needs and the kind of sporting events they compete in that has pushed the design and led the project.
"Even now, I’m still involved in a lot of field testing and controlled experiments over the next few months that will demonstrate just how effective Craig’s design has been.”
The Invictus Games, currently taking place in Florida, is an international sporting event for injured, wounded and sick servicemen and women.
