Vote James!

Cyclist Rachel James has been shortlisted for the Welsh Sports Personality Of The Year award along with nine other athletes that includes footballer Gareth Bale and Commonwealth gold medalist Geraint Thomas.

Rachel is the most recent member of the local James dynasty to be recognised for her cycling achievements on the world stage for her success at the Para World Championships where she achieved two gold medals and two world records on the tandem. Piloting Sophie Thornill they gained success in kilometre time trial and sprint event.

Rachel was accepted on to the British Para Cycling Program as a tandem pilot in October last year. It wasn't long until she was able to demonstrate her ability as in November Sophie and Rachel teamed up for an international World Cup event in Newport where they also achieved two gold medals in the Kilo and Sprint.

As a result of her early success Rachel was chosen to represent Great Britain for the Para World Championships in April this year at Aguascalientes in Mexico. Not only did they achieve two gold medals they now hold two world records in the kilometre time trial and the 200 meter time trial.

Shortly after Rachel formed a new partnership with Welsh Para Cyclist Rhiannon Henry to represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this July.

In September Rachel was back with her former teammate Sophie Thornhill for the British Track Championships. Competing in the Kilometre Time Trail and the Sprint event they were yet again placed in two gold medal positions.

Rachel's next major competition is the Para World Championships in March next year, which will be held in Holland where she hopes to gain similar success. The experience and success from this year and in the coming year will be used to help her achieve her ultimate aim of representing Great Britain at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Rachel told the Chronicle, "It's such an honour to be nominated alongside the other athletes on the shortlist. When so many people this year have achieved so much in sport it means so much to me to be recognised at these awards. The local support I have received is overwhelming and I appreciate this so much."

The success of the nominees is based on a number of votes each athlete gets. If you would like to vote for Rachel you can either text 'James' to 65577, or phone 09011 98 11 07. Texts and calls are charged at your standard network rate. Voting finishes on December 8.