Branden Walton’s World Championships Debut In Rio Opens Up A New Track

The unexpected phone call set up a world championships debut for Branden Walton, a tandem rider from California.

The caller was Ian Lawless, director of U.S. Paralympics Cycling.

“Hey, you got invited to go to Brazil,” Lawless told Walton.

And the unexpected response?

“Oh. OK.”

Walton, who won a Para track and field junior world title as a teen, made his Para-cycling world championships debut on March 22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He and pilot Spencer Seggebruch finished 19th in the men’s 1-kilometer time trial B.

One day later, they snagged a sixth-place finish in the individual pursuit.

“For me, because everything was so new, I kind of treated everything the same,” Walton said. “Brazil and worlds was my third event, so I was like, ‘Well, it’s just like riding the track in L.A.’”

The sport of Para-cycling is unquestionably new for Walton, who is a resident athlete this year at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A visually impaired athlete who was diagnosed with macular degeneration at age 4, Walton ran cross country and track at Windsor High School in California, where he grew up. He made the U.S. Para team for the world junior championships in 2017, and won a gold medal in the 800-meter run and a silver medal in the 1,500, both in the T-13 classification.

It wasn’t until after a back injury in 2021, which ended his running career, that Walton turned to another sport. His doctor suggested swimming or cycling.

“I’m just going to ride a bike and then see where it goes,” Walton recalled saying.

Competitive juices took over. A new passion led him to the U.S. Para track cycling championships in 2023 and his first world cup road competition last year in Ostend, Belgium, as an independent racer. When he was invited to a talent identification camp last October in Colorado Springs and paired up with two-time world championship team pilot Joe Christiansen, national coach Sarah Hammer took notice. She told Walton to find a pilot he could ride with in competition since Christiansen was already paired up with Michael Stephens, a 2024 world championships bronze medalist.

Road cycling had been Walton’s focus.

But when he and Seggebruch turned a time of 4 minutes, 30 seconds for a personal best on the track at the VELO Sports Center in Carson, California, that focus took on a different direction, a southerly one toward Rio.

Now Walton is hoping to do both road and track cycling.

“I don’t think I really have a favorite,” he said. “I think I just like riding bikes fast.”

Walton found a new coach in two-time Paralympian Chris Murphy, who raced in both disciplines himself and became a coach after retiring from competitive cycling in 2023.

Kate Brim, a two-time world champion in road, helped Walton with that connection — and made it an urgent one, Walton said.

“You need to text him today.”

Walton and Murphy began working together in April, just one month after Walton’s world championships debut.

“I never heard of him,” Murphy said, “but he and his pilot did a sport impressive ride. Finishing top eight in the tandem field in your first major race is kind of unheard of.”

Walton is training in Colorado Springs several times a week with Christiansen, sessions that Murphy often attends. Seggebruch, a USA Cycling national team member, lives in St. Louis and trains separately.

“He’s got some super impressive power numbers for a guy of his size and limited experience, so I’m excited to get to work with him,” Murphy said of Walton. “He’s been super easy-going to work with and has a lot of good instincts. I think he’s got a ton of potential and I’m really looking forward to helping him tap into that and reach his goals.”

And it is so new that Walton is still wondering about those goals.

“I think I’m still figuring out how much I necessarily like or love cycling,” he said. “Right now I do really enjoy cycling just because of the people. Obviously, I get to live in the Springs and get to travel for the sport. So that part is fun for me.

“And I just get to go fast,” Walton added. “That’s always good.”

A couple of flat tires hurt Walton’s performance with road pilot Spencer Moavenzadeh in the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Road Open in March in Bryan, Texas, but that just positioned him to chase after strong runs in July. The selection event for the U.S. Paralympic team is July 7 and 8 in Loma Linda, California, followed by the USA Cycling Para-cycling Track National Championships in Carson, July 10-14.

Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic and Paralympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to USParaCycling.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.