Karen Darke
A modern-day alchemist, Karen Darke is a Paralympic cycling champion, adventurer, author and mindset coach who transforms challenge into opportunity, adversity into advantage and the impossible into reality. Her mission is to help individuals and organisations discover their inner gold; the resilience, strength and untapped potential within us all.
Karen Darke was quite outstanding and inspirational.
Girls On the Move - Scottish Executive Project
A modern-day alchemist, Karen Darke is a Paralympic cycling champion, adventurer, author and mindset coach who transforms challenge into opportunity, adversity into advantage and the impossible into reality.
Her mission is to help individuals and organisations discover their inner gold; the resilience, strength and untapped potential within us all.
Full of adventurous spirit, Karen was climbing a cliff in Scotland at the age of 21 when she fell, and became paralysed from the chest down for the rest of her life,
Instead of being defied by limitations, Karen redefined possibility, overcoming the challenges her body has to face, with a toughness and vigour of mind she never knew she had.
Challenging physical and mental barriers, Karen has achieved the unthinkable. Sit-skiing; hand-cycling; triathlons, marathons and kayaking in some of the most inhospitable places on earth, are just a small example of Karen’s incredible achievements.
Karen’s most physically challenging adventure was a 600 kilometre traverse of the Greenland ice cap which took her a month to complete, and where she had to battle 200 mile an hour winds and temperatures below 40 degrees.
Competing in the Para Thriathlon, taking a trip to the South Pole and representing Team GB in the Rio Olympics, Karen is an incredible sportswoman and thrill seeker.
It was in the Rio 2016 Paralympics that Karen won gold in hand-cycling. With this being the 79th medal for Britain, Karen decided to create Quest 79, a project where she cycled 7 continents in 9 iconic rides, encouraging many people to step out of their comfort zones and discover passion, purpose and strength.
Karen is also a Guiness World Record holder for land speed by arm power, has skied across icecaps, kayaked at extreme latitudes of the planet, and hand-cycled across the world's biggest mountain ranges.
Her first book "If You Fall" tells the story of her accident: the second, "Boundless" is about her adventures in Greenland and climbing El Capitan. "Quest 79: Find Your Inner Gold" is a collection of short stories positive psychology tips.
Karen blends personal experience with insights from neuroscience, high-performance psychology and flow science, leaving audiences inspired and equipped with tangible strategies to develop a sustainable high-performance mindset, break barriers to achieve the impossible and harness the power of mindset, motivation and resilience.
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Karen was a keen runner, climber and all round outdoor addict who climbed Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn by the age of 21. During a climbing expedition in 1992 Karen fell off a cliff, severing her spinal chord which paralysed her from the chest down. Since her accident Karen has had to challenge her own physical and mental barriers, In 1997 she hand-biked over the Himalayas, a 1400 km journey from Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan and three years later she hand-biked the 2000km length of Japan. In September 2011 Karen achieved a bronze medal in the Para-cycling World Championships in Denmark, securing her place in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Karen Darke's story is inspiring and energising, and she is a modest and thoughtful inspirational and motivational speaker.
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