Month: August 2021

Maria Lyle

Age: 21

Home town: Dunbar, East Lothian

Sport: Athletics

Events: 100m & 200m

Classification: T35

Club: Team East Lothian

Coach: Jamie Bowie

When and how did you get involved in sport?
My mum was my PE teacher at my primary school and got us to do a bleep test (multistage fitness test). I managed to finish the test and be the last one standing. That was the first time I ever felt that feeling of success and being good at something. I’ve never looked back since.

Career highlights:

  • Becoming double world champion in Dubai 2019.

How many Paralympic Games have you competed in?
Rio 2016 & Tokyo 2020

What are your ambitions in Tokyo?
Executing my race plan and what will be will be.

Do you have one bit of advice for an aspiring athlete?
Enjoy your sport and remember it’s not everything. Make sure there is a balance in your life.

Twitter: @Lyle_Maria

Instagram: @maria_lyle

Micky Yule

Age: 42

Home town: Edinburgh

Classification: -80kg

Micky Yule is a Scottish-born British powerlifter who made his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016.

Back in 2010 Micky was a Staff Sargent in the Royal Engineers in Afghanistan when he stood on an IED. The blast left him without his left leg and shattered his right leg completely, leaving him in hospital for months while he recovered from his injuries.

During this time Micky decided that once he was fit enough he would carry on training to be a powerlifter, a sport he had competed in before he was injured in Afghanistan. After 46 operations, Micky was able to start his rehabilitation and eventually resume his training, supported by Help for Heroes’ recovery programme.

It wasn’t until Micky went to a Talent Identification Day in Scotland that he found himself on the path towards becoming a professional powerlifter, quickly earning himself a place in the Scottish team before the Commonwealth games in Glasgow in 2014. He was then made captain of the UK powerlifting team competing at the inaugural Invictus Games, an event held for recovering servicemen and women, winning himself a gold medal.

Micky has continued his progression despite more operations, setting a new personal best of 193kg at the IPC Powerlifting European Championships to help secure selection to Rio.

On his Paralympic debut, Micky recorded a best lift of 180kg before failures at 184kg and 187kg, ranking him in 6th place. Gold went to Nigeria’s Paul Kehinde with a world record lift of 218kg.

His most recent wins include Gold at the Manchester World Cup 2020 and a he won a silver medal at Manchester World Cup 2021.

Major Results

**2015 IPC Powerlifting European Championships, Eger, Hungary **

  • Up to 80kg: Gold

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @MickyYule9

Instagram: mickyyule9

Lewis Stewart

Age: 22

Region: Killearn

Classification: Men’s B Pilot

A relative newcomer to tandem sprinting, Stewart already holds a rainbow jersey.

After joining the para-cycling programme in late 2019, Stewart truly made his mark at world level by piloting James Ball to two medals at the track world championships in Milton in 2020.

The duo lost out to the more experienced pairing of Neil Fachie and Matt Rotherham in the kilo, before turning the tables on their team-mates by triumphing in an all-British sprint final, a victory which represented Stewart’s first ever world title.

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @Lewis_R_Stewart

Instagram: lewstu

Alison Peasgood

Age: 33

Home town: Dunfermline, Fife

Classification: PTVI

Alison Peasgood was recruited to triathlon from an athletics background in 2013. She is visually impaired (less than 10% vision) and races in the PT5 class with a guide athlete. Alison and her guide are tethered during the swim, ride a tandem bike and run with a tether. She is based at the Loughborough Triathlon Performance Centre, and has been a member of the World Class lottery funded British Para-triathlon squad since 2014.

Alison was working as a physiotherapist when she first joined the programme at British Triathlon, but has subsequently taken a break from her career to train full time in Loughborough. The move paid off almost immediately with a first ITU Para-triathlon world title in 2014.

Alison was drawn to triathlon when injuries prevented her from running as much as she wanted to and friends persuaded her to have a go. She had previously swum as a junior and raced in the 1500m on the track at international level. However, it was the 800m where she had most success, including a IBSA world title. She also represented Scotland as a non-disabled runner at the World Mountain Trophy.

She made her Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 where she won silver in the women’s PT5 event alongside guide Hazel Smith.

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @ali_p87

Instagram: triali87

Aileen McGlynn OBE

Age: 48

Home town: Glasgow

Classification: Women’s B

Aileen McGlynn attended her first Paralympic games in Athens 2004 winning gold and silver medals. She went on to attend the 2008 Beijing Paralympics winning double gold. Her third Paralympics was London 2012 where she won silver and bronze medals.

After her success at the various Paralympic games Aileen went to attend 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth games winning double silver. Her second Commonwealth Games was in 2018 where she finished third in both Time Trial and The Sprint.

Aileen has represented both Great Britain and Scotland throughout her career, she has a visual impairment and rides with a pilot. She has been awarded an MBE and OBE.

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @amcglynn1

Melanie Woods

Age: 27

Home town: Glasgow

Classification: T54

Events:  400m & 800m

Melanie Woods is a British Athletics Futures Academy athlete, and she earns a call-up to the Tokyo 2020 team in the T54 400m and 800m. Prior to a road accident while cycling, Woods was a Physical Education teacher.

The Scottish athlete improved her best times over the distances to 56.16 and 1:52.40 respectively during the 2021 season and also competed at the European Para Athletics Championships earlier this year.

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @melaniewoods_

Instagram: melaniewoods87

Libby Clegg MBE

Age: 21

Home town: Newcastleton, Scottish Borders

Classification: T11

Events: 200m & 4x100m Relay

Formerly a keen ballet dancer, Libby took up athletics aged 10, first competing in middle distance and cross country running before taking up sprinting.

She joined the Macclesfield Harriers Athletics Club in 1999, bursting onto the international scene aged 16 at the 2006 World Championships in Assen, the Netherlands, when she won a silver medal in the T12 200m.

Libby made her Paralympic debut in Beijing in 2008, winning a silver medal in the T12 100m. Later that year, she was awarded third place in the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.

At London 2012, Libby won her T12 100m heat in a world record time of 12.17 seconds to qualify for the semi-finals. However, in a competitive field, the record was broken in each of the next two heats and reduced to a time of 11.91. In the final, Libby ran a time of 12.13 to set a new personal best and take the silver medal.

In her second event, the T12 200m, Libby ran a lifetime best of 25.10 to come second in her heat, but she did not progress to the finals.

Crowned Commonwealth Champion in 2014, Libby had to miss a number of major competitions through illness and injury. She was reclassified as a T11 sprinter in 2016 and went on to set a world record in the T11 200m at July’s IPC Athletics Grand Prix Final, the same venue where she took to the podium in 2012.

In London, Libby was also joined by younger brother James, who was selected to ParalympicsGB to compete as a swimmer, winning bronze in the 100m Butterfly (S12). Keeping the family tradition, her brother Stephen was selected to represent ParalympicsGB in swimming at Rio 2016.

Libby began working with guide runner Chris Clarke in February 2016 and the pair claimed T11 100m and 200m gold at Rio 2016.

Injury sadly ruled Clegg out of the London 2017 World Championships, then the following year she suffered a double blow as first her regular guide Chris Clarke was ruled out for the season, then replacement Tom Somers also picked up an injury just before the 2018 European Championships.

In April 2019 Clegg and her partner Dan Powell became parents to son Edward; the Scot was back training by the summer with hopes of competing at the World Championships later that year. Clegg made the start line but was disqualified in the semi finals of the T11 200m.

Major Results

2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • T11 200m: Gold
  • T11 100m: Gold

2012 London Paralympic Games

  • T12 100m: Silver

2008 Beijing Paralympic Games

  • T12 100m: Silver

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, Lyon, France

  • T12 100m: Silver
  • T12 200m: Silver

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @LibbyClegg

Instagram: libby.clegg

Owen Miller

Age: 19

Home town: Dunfermline, Fife

Classification: T20

Events: 1500m

Owen took up athletics and joined a local club after his PE teacher recommended he joined after seeing him running in his school sports day.

His first medal on the international stage came in 2012 when he was crowned European champion over 800m and bronze medallist over 1500m, also adding a world championship 800m bronze medal indoors, but won 800m gold and 1500m silver at the 2016 European Championships in Turkey.

Miller made his British debut at The World Championships 2019 off the back of a very successful year that has saw him set a new personal best of 3:56.32 and become the second on the all-time British T20 1500m list, for athletes who compete with learning or intellectual impairments.

Miller ran the second-fastest 1500 metres of his career in Manchester 2021.

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

 

Stef Reid MBE

Age: 36

Region: Burton on the Wolds/Loughborough

Classification: T64

Events: Long jump

Stefanie Reid won her first Paralympic medal at the Beijing Games in 2008, when she claimed bronze in the T44 200m for Canada.

By London 2012, Reid had switched allegiance to Great Britain – she was born in New Zealand to a Scottish father and English mother and grew up in Toronto. Competing in front of a home crowd, she won silver in the T44 long jump.

Reid added another Paralympic silver medal to her collection at Rio 2016 where she finished second in the T44 long jump once again.

Reid struck global gold at the London 2017 World Championships but was unable to defend her title in 2019 due to injury.

With an honours degree in Biochemistry, a fashion model and keen public speaker, Reid is a multi-talented individual. She is married to Paralympic medallist Brent Lakatos of Canada.

Major Results

2016 Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • T44 Long jump: Silver

2012 Paralympic Games, London, United Kingdom

  • T44 Long jump: Silver

2008 Paralympic Games, Beijing, China

  • T44 200m: Bronze

2017 IPC Athletics World Championships, London, United Kingdom

  • T44 Long jump: Gold

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships, Christchurch, New Zealand

  • T44/46 Long jump: Bronze
  • T44 200m: Bronze

2018 World Para Athletics European Championships, Berlin, Germany

  • T64 Long jump: Bronze

2014 IPC Athletics European Championships, Swansea, Wales

  • T44 Long jump: Gold

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: RunJumpStefReid

Facebook: Stefanie Reid: Paralymic Track and Field Athlete

Instagram: runjumpstefreid

Samantha Kinghorn

Age: 25

Home town: Gordon, Scottish Borders

Classification: T45

Events: 100m, 400m, 800m & 4x100m Relay

Samantha Kinghorn announced herself on the international scene when she claimed a trio of gold medals at the European Championships in Swansea in 2014.

Her ability to compete with the best at a global level came to the fore in 2015 when she secured T53 200m bronze at the World Championships in Doha.

At Rio 2016 Kinghorn finished fifth in the T53 100m but a year later was back on the podium with a vengeance as she claimed 100m and 200m gold at the World Championships in London as well as bronze in the 400m.

After her success on the track in 2017, Kinghorn turned her attention to the longer distances with the aim of competing for Scotland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Kinghorn achieved two impressive fourth place finishes in the Gold Coast in the 1,500m and the marathon before returning to the sprints ahead of the 2019 World Championships. Despite taking time out over the summer for surgery, Kinghorn claimed a bronze medal in Dubai.

Major Results

2019 World Para Athletics World Championships, Dubai, UAE

  • T53 100m: Bronze

2017 IPC Athletics World Championships, London, UK

  • T53 100m: Gold
  • T53 200m: Gold
  • T53 400m: Bronze

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships, Doha, Qatar

  • T53 200m Bronze

2014 IPC European Championships, Swansea, Wales

  • T53 100m: Gold
  • T53 400m: Gold
  • T53 800m: Gold

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @Sam_Kinghorn

Facebook: Samantha Kinghorn

Instagram: sammikinghorn