We were told we couldn't do sport ... so we do sport
Evening Standard|August 28, 2024
Grit, dark humour and buckets of resilience - it takes more than just athleticism to compete in the Paralympic Games. Katie Strick hears the most inspiring stories from our team
Katie Strick
We were told we couldn't do sport ... so we do sport

PRINTER Jonnie Peacock thinks it's a fighting spirit, the magic ingredient it takes to become an athlete worthy of competing in the Paralympic Games. Long jumper Zak Skinner believes it's grit and determination - a resilience to pain - that gives para-athletes like him their unique mindset.

Wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft believes it's more nuanced, the concept of pain when you're a Paralympian. Yes, the training can be agony and has brought Cockroft her fair share of injuries in the 12 years since she competed in her first Games.

But the sport also offered a distraction from the pain. "I think I'd be in a lot more pain if I wasn't in the race chair every day," the seven-time Paralympic champion says ahead of the start of her fourth Games, which begin in Paris today.

Grit, a fighting spirit, whatever it is: Peacock, 31, Skinner, 25, and Cockroft, 32, clearly have buckets of the stuff-as do all the Paralympians we're set to see competing over the coming fortnight.

Sure, the Olympians we saw competing a couple of weeks ago weren't lacking in the whole resilience thing. But have you tried sprinting 800 metres in a wheelchair, or competing in a triathlon when you're missing a limb? This is the theory, at least, that Peacock, Skinner and their fellow para-athletes look to explore in Path to Paris: Paralympic Dream, a documentary now available on Channel 4, supported by The National Lottery.

Cockroft's fiancée Nathan Maguire, wheelchair racing legend Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and Paralympic newbie Funmi Oduwaiye, are among the athletes who give viewers exclusive access to their journey to this week's Paralympics.

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