Robert Aubrey Matthews MBE (26 May 1961 – 11 April 2018) was a British athlete who competed in blind middle- and long-distance events.

[3] Three years later, he met the woman who would become his second wife, Sarah Kerr, while he was on a holiday in New Zealand, and soon thereafter emigrated to the country to be with her.

[1] In the 1987 Birthday Honours, Matthews became the first Paralympian to be appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), "for services to sport for the disabled".

He started off in the B1 class middle- and long-distance events, winning gold in all three disciplines: the 800 m, 1,500 m, and 5,000 m. Four years later, at the Games in Seoul, he retained all three titles.

[1][10][7] He began to concentrate on a new sport and competed in blind cycling events at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London as a representative of New Zealand.