Matt King has achieved great things-on the cycling circuit and in life. The IBM engineer and tandem cyclist has placed second among America's professional track cyclists. But he has one characteristic that his fellow top cyclists do not have: King is blind. That hasn't stopped him from becoming one of the best track cyclists in the country. In fact, King and his racing partner Eric DeGolier recently competed in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. It was King's third Paralympics in a racing career-filled with national and international medals and a world record-that is envied by professional athletes of all abilities.
King was born with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited incurable eye disease that gradually destroys the retina and optic nerve. During childhood, his slowly regressing vision was difficult to accept. But King continued to do what he loved — ride his bicycle — and even earned money by delivering newspapers. His freshman year at the University of Notre Dame, King lost his vision and stopped bicycling on his own. He endured by switching to a tandem bicycle (built for two riders), graduating magna cum laude and going to work for IBM.
"Society shouldn't expect less from people with disabilities," says King. "Blind people need to know they can accomplish things in life just as well as somebody else."
King raced onto the international tandem cycling circuit at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, where he and cycling partner Spencer Yates set a world record in the men's 4,000-meter event. In 1997, he became the first blind rider to compete at a national elite level against sighted racers at the U.S. Cycling Federation's Elite Match Sprint Championships.
Since then, King has competed in dozens of national and international events. His cycling career includes three top-four finishes in national championships against elite (and sighted) competitors and 12 U.S. national titles in Paralympic competition. At his latest event, the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, King competed in the men's tandem sprint and road race events, and finished eighth in the one-kilometer event.
When he isn't racing, King reaches out to other people with disabilities as a motivational speaker and through his work at IBM. His role as an engineer and expert in accessibility issues for the IBM Accessibility Center is helping to provide greater access to the world of information technology for people with disabilities.