Olympic & Paralympic day is celebrated by millions of people across the world each year on 23rd June to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on the same day back in 1894. The day centres itself around fitness, sport culture and education while promoting both the Olympic and Paralympic values.
And as we move closer to the 16th edition of the summer Paralympic Games in Paris this August, with over 4000 athletes set to represent more than 150 nations across 22 sports, it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year. As ever, Great Britain will have high hopes to be one of the top nations in the competition, so here’s ten of the British athletes to look and listen out for on your screens and airwaves.
Heading into Paris in unstoppable form, Hollie Arnold clinched her sixth straight javelin World title earlier this year in the F46 class. Hollie was always destined for the top after making her Paralympic debut in 2008 when she was just 14 years-old. The Welsh thrower will be looking to add to her gold and bronze Paralympic medals later this summer.
“A happy Hollie is a dangerous Hollie”, listen to the Welsh thrower’s ‘Paris: Grassroots to Glory’ episode on BBC Sounds.
Matt Bush first made his name on GB books as a javelin and shot put athlete, and was set to head to Rio De Janeiro in 2016 but a shoulder injury forced him to miss the games. With a keen interest in mixed martial arts, he switched to taekwondo when it was added to the 2020 Tokyo roster. Within a month, the heavy-weight athlete was already fighting the world number one – winning the fight. Matt backed up his impressive start to the sport and made history in 2019 when he became the first GB Taekwondo male to win a Para or non-disabled World gold medal.
At just 17-years-old Ellie Challis became Great Britain’s youngest medallist at Tokyo 2020, when she claimed silver in the Women's S3 50m backstroke. A year later at the World Championships in Madeira, Ellie claimed her first world title in the SB2 50m breastroke, and a hat-trick of silver medals in the S3 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke.
The 20-year-old will be in full confidence going into Paris, as she claimed another five medals in the Manchester World Championships last year, as she retained her SB2 50m breaststroke title.
Badminton only made its Paralympic debut in Tokyo three years ago, but Rachel Choong would have to wait another three years for her classification to be selected for competition. The Liverpool-born athlete will be looking to add her first Paralympic medal to her ever-growing tally (12 World Championship medals and 10 European titles). The 30-year-old will be competing in both the women’s singles and in the mixed doubles, alongside Jack Shephard as they will look to add gold to their 2022 World Championship title.
A household name in the Para sport world, the Yorkshire-born wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft is no stranger to being the top of the podium. With seven Paralympic medals and 16 World titles ‘Hurricane Hannah’ will be odds on favourite in many peoples’ eyes to bring home the gold as she competes in the T34 classification in her fourth Paralympic games.
Funmi Oduwaiye may have only started her Para sport career two years ago but the Cardiff-born athlete was a promising basketball player. However, numerous surgery complications for a condition called ‘knock knees’ left her with serious injuries and unable to move forward with basketball. Not one to give up, Funmi was soon scouted for shot put and discus and in just 12 months has already placed fourth in the shot put and sixth in discus at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships.
Making the headlines, not just for his boccia prowess but for his bright ‘Union Jack’ dyed hair, David Smith has been winning medals for Great Britain since the Beijing games back in 2008. Claiming gold in his first Paralympic Games in the team event, he went on to win silver in the individual event in London 2012, before going one better in Rio De Janeiro. David made the history books when he became Britain’s most successful boccia player as he retained his individual title. A real ambassador for the sport who will hope to add another medal or two to his collection.
Born in Northern Ireland, Claire Taggart became the first boccia player from her country to represent Great Britain at a Paralympics in 2016 when she was just 21 years-old. Claire will be hoping to add to her 2022 World Championship title, as she looks to claim her first Paralympic medal in the French capital.
Born in just 2011, Iona is the youngest swimmer in this year’s ParalympicsGB squad. It may be her first Paralympic Games but the 13-year-old has already made her mark in the swimming world, as the teenager won two European titles this year in Madeira in the SB7 100m Breaststroke and SM7 200m Individual Medley, in addition to a bronze medal in the S7 50m Butterfly.
Listen to Iona’s ‘Paris: Grassroots to Glory’ episode on BBC Sounds, as the teenager reflects on an “incredible experience” at her first major international event.
Inspired to take up running from one of the sport’s legends, Usain Bolt, the Brit burst on to the track back in 2018 with a double European gold in the T38 100m and 200m events. Thomas Young went on to claim a World silver 12 months later, cruelly missing out on the gold by 0.01s. Not to be disheartened, the 23-year-old went on to have an incredible 2021 season, winning gold medals in both the World Championships and Paralympics, with Usain Bolt reaching out to congratulate the Croydon-born sprinter with the message: ‘Anything is possible. Don’t think limit.’
Join the super movement and explore all the fun, free inclusive Paralympic sport resources available on the Super Movers for Every Body website
