We were told we couldn't do sport ... so we do sport

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

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.