Emma VickmanC4 · SWE

Swedish para-cyclist · road to the LA 2028 Paralympics

Turning pain into power.

I live with spinal stenosis, permanent nerve damage in both legs and ten operations on my back. On the bike, the pain goes quiet. Now I'm racing for Sweden, and my goal is the Paralympics in Los Angeles.

Partner with me Read my story
Emma Vickman in a Škoda Cycling Team jersey, head down, giving everything on an indoor bike
2×Swedish para-cycling champion 2025
road race & time trial, C4
1×Nordic para-cycling champion 2025
road race
72.3VO₂max, August 2026
up from 57.8 in April
315 kmVätternrundan record
all-women team, Škoda 2022

“My goal is to show the world what living with an invisible disability looks like: the strength, the setbacks and the victories. Limits are just starting points. When I hurt the most, I challenge myself even more.”

Emma

My story

Pain with purpose

I was born with shorter vertebrae in my spine. I can't remember a time without back pain. What I learned the hard way is that my body heals through movement.

  1. Age 12

    The crash

    Someone ran into me while I was snowboarding. I landed hard on my tailbone on the ice, and chronic pain began. Doctors told me not to ride a bike and to “take it easy”. Looking back, that made it worse.

  2. Teens

    Floorball gold, survival mode

    Nine years of floorball. At a sports high school our team won gold at the School World Championship in Slovakia. Meanwhile I often left school in an ambulance. I found yoga at 14 and still do it today.

  3. Age 20

    When the brain says stop

    After eight years of constant pain I burned out completely. No light, no sound, no phone. I took almost no photos in those years because I didn't want to look weak. Now I know it was when I was strongest.

  4. 22 – 25

    “Too young for this”

    Scans showed spinal stenosis, which mostly affects men over 70. I spent nine months unable to stand. Then came emergency surgery, and I woke up unable to feel my legs. Rehab started with trying to press my legs into the bed. The nerve pain has stayed with me.

  5. February 2017

    The first ride

    I tried mountain biking and felt my muscles working again. I stood up on the pedals and flew through the forest. Endorphins became my medicine. I gained more strength in two months on the bike than in two years of rehab.

  6. 2018 – 2020

    Standing up again

    A spinal cord stimulator let me stand, walk and cook again. I trained as a spinning instructor and cycling coach, started racing MTB and went through Apollo Sports Education. I began doing headstands on mountain tops to thank my legs for carrying me.

  7. 2021 – 2023

    Three years without a stimulator

    A battery change led to an infection, and the whole system had to come out. While I waited three years for a new one, I walked six days a week, rode on the seventh and swam in the ocean every morning. In 2022 I rode with the Škoda Cycling Team, 15 pros and 15 recruits, and we set the all-women record at Vätternrundan.

  8. 2024 – 2025

    Para athlete

    I got my new stimulator, and in November 2024 my para-cycling classification: C4. In June 2025 I became Swedish champion in the road race and time trial, and Nordic champion in the road race.

  9. 2026

    Crash, rebuild, +25%

    In April I got so cold in a rainy mountain race that I lost the use of my hands and was taken down by ambulance. In May I crashed, and severe migraines kept me off work for nine weeks. I rebuilt with Zone 2 rides, sometimes in earplugs. My VO₂max went from 57.8 in April to 72.3 in August.

Emma smiling in the sun after training

My way forward

My life has never been about escaping pain. It has been about transforming it. Helping others gives meaning to everything I've been through. Para-cycling shows people what is possible when you refuse to give up.

Everyone can do something. I want to help them find their something.

Emma coaching a rider on an indoor bike setup

Right now

Pain-free power

I work as a trainer at a sports hotel on Gran Canaria. Next to my own training for LA28, I'm building classes for people who live with pain and want to move again.

  • Move with pain, not against itWhat years of rehab, the ELSA pain programme in Uppsala and my own body have taught me about pain and the nervous system.
  • Endorphins as medicineCycling, yoga and strength work, adapted so everyone can find a way to move.
  • Start where you areEveryone can do something. The classes help you find your something.

The classes are being developed now. Want to join, or bring them to your team or club? Write to me.

Emma on crutches in a city street, wired up with a pain-monitoring harness after surgery
You can't see it on the bike. You can see it here.

Explainer

An invisible disability

Spinal stenosis is an abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal that puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots. For me it means permanent nerve damage in both legs (hamstrings and inner thighs) and constant nerve pain. My muscles still work. The broken part is my nervous system.

Cycling is how my doctors and I worked out what was really going on. On the bike my body floods with endorphins, the only medicine that truly frees me from pain.

“My doctor explained how endorphins, happiness and training will be the distraction from pain that makes me function.”

Para-cycling classes C1–C5

C1 is the most severe impairment and C5 the least. I race in C4 (classified November 2024).

  1. C1Most severe impairments, e.g. significant limitations in both upper and lower limbs, or severe coordination impairment.
  2. C2Slightly less severe, e.g. moderate coordination impairment or limb limitations.
  3. C3Moderate impairments affecting one or more limbs.
  4. C4Mild impairments, such as reduced strength or range of motion in one or more limbs. This is my class.
  5. C5Least severe, e.g. minor loss of strength or mobility in one limb.

The plan

Road to LA 2028

There's no easy road to the Paralympics. It takes years of preparation, resilience and milestones, and I can't do it alone.

  1. Nov 2024Become a para athleteCertificate and C4 classification
  2. Spring 2025PrepareTrained to qualify
  3. May 2025QualifyA spot on the Swedish team
  4. June 2025Compete2× Swedish champion, Nordic champion
  5. NowCollect World Cup pointsRacing the UCI Para-cycling World Cup series
  6. 2028Earn the spotProve my times and qualify for LA28
Emma on the top step of the podium at the Swedish championships in Norrköping, June 2025
Top step, SM-veckan Norrköping 2025
Emma with her gold medal in the Swedish champion's jersey
Swedish champion's jersey
Emma during a VO2max test in a Škoda Cycling Team kit, wearing a breathing mask
VO₂max lab: 72.3 ml/kg/min

My ask

Partner with me on the road to LA28

Your brand can stand for resilience, inclusion and excellence, and help a para athlete reach the Paralympics. In return I offer:

  1. Brand visibilityLogo on race apparel, event materials and in national and international media coverage.
  2. Authentic storytellingExclusive content from a real journey that fits your brand's values.
  3. Community impactShow your commitment to inclusion and adaptive sport as part of your CSR work.
  4. Employee & customer engagementTalks, workshops, group rides and personal meetings with your team and customers.
vickmanemma@gmail.com Instagram @emmavickman Follow on Strava
Emma on her red time-trial bike on a sunny country road