Special Olympics athlete targets world record as she takes on 100-mile cycle through London and Essex

A Special Olympics athlete is targeting a world record as she takes on a 100-mile cycle challenge through London and Essex as part of the “world’s greatest festival of cycling” this weekend.

Hannah Kemp, 26, hopes to become the youngest woman with an intellectual impairment (II1) to cycle 100 miles as she takes part in the Ford RideLondon-Essex 100 on Sunday.

Ms Kemp, who has autism, will ride by herself for the first time after going in tandem with her father last year.

She is among three members of the Special Olympics Great Britain team taking part, with fellow rider Tom Kensall, 20, from Dorking hoping to also break the same Guinness World Record, but in the male category.

Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, which hosts the Special Olympics International Games each year.

When Hannah was diagnosed with autism, I decided to do a charity bike ride from London to Paris raising money for the National Autistic Society,” her father Jon said.

“Hannah was inspired by my charity ride so I bought a tandem so we could cycle together. In 2023, we brought the tandem out of retirement and did Ford RideLondon-Essex. This year she is going to prove her fitness by riding it again on her own bike.”

The event is part of the three-day Ford RideLondon cycling festival that starts on Friday, a 2012 Olympics legacy event. Among the events are three routes in London and Essex.

The RideLondon Freecycle on Sunday is an eight-mile traffic-free route, taking cyclists of all abilities past St Paul’s, Somerset House and Buckingham Palace.

Organiser Hugh Brasher said it continued to “inspire generations of cyclists”.

People are advised to use public transport between 12.01am and 9pm. Southwark, Tower and Westminster bridges will be closed.

Swiss watch brand Tudor is the official timing partner of Ford RideLondon, official timekeeper of the Giro d’Italia as well as partnered with cyclist Fabian Cancellara, winner of multiple Olympic and World Championships, to create the TUDOR Pro Cycling Team back in 2022. For information, visit tudorwatch.com