Category: Uncategorized

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

Jo Butterfield MBE

Age: 42

Home town: Doncaster

Classification: F51 Club Throw

A former army civil servant, Butterfield first tried her hand at wheelchair basketball before transitioning to athletics with immediate success. In 2014 on her international debut, the Glasgow-based athlete won European club throw gold, which was followed by world gold just over 12 months later.

Butterfield’s meteoric rise continued as she retained her European crown and also obliterated the world record with a mark of 22.75m in Grosseto, Italy, in 2016.

At the Paralympic Games in Rio, Butterfield won gold in the F51 club throw with yet another world record – despite nursing a shoulder injury.

But with injury problems continuing the following year, as the Scot finished in fourth place at the London 2017 World Championships.

Butterfield added two more silver medals to her collection, first at the 2018 European Championships and then just over a year later at the 2019 World Championships in Dubai.

Butterfield was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours.

Major Results

2016 Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • F51 Club Throw: Gold

2019 World Para Athletics World Championships, Dubai, UAE

  • F51 Club Throw: Silver

2018 World Para Athletics European Championships, Berlin, Germany

  • F51 Club Throw: Silver

2016 IPC Athletics European Championships, Grosseto, Italy

  • F32/51 Club Throw: Gold

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships, Doha, Qatar

  • F32/51 Club Throw: Gold
  • F52 Discus: Bronze

2014 IPC Athletics European Championships, Swansea, Wales

  • F32/51 Club Throw: Gold

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @Jo_shuni

Instagram: jobutterfield

Stephen Clegg

Age: 25

Home town: Newcastleton, Scottish Borders

Classification: S12, SB12, SM12

Stephen comes from a family of Paralympic athletes, with both older sister Libby and brother James winning medals for ParalympicsGB at London 2012 in athletics and swimming.

Stephen started swimming in 2014 and quickly took to the sport, breaking through to make his major debut at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships in Funchal, Portugal, where he made three finals and set a new personal best in the 400m freestyle S13.

He made his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 where he recorded his best result in the final of the 100m backstroke S12, finishing in 5th place.

At the 2018 European Para Swimming Championships in Dublin, Ireland, Stephen won three bronze medals and set two new British records.

In 2019 Stephen claimed his maiden global title with a silver medal in the S12 100m butterfly final.

Major Results

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

  • 100m backstroke S12: 5th
  • 100m freestyle S13: 4th (heat 2)
  • 400m freestyle S13: 4th (heat 1)
  • 50m freestyle S12: 4th (heat 1)

London 2019 World Para Swimming Championships

  • 100m butterfly S12: silver
  • 100m backstroke S12: 4th
  • 50m freestyle S12: 5th
  • 100m freestyle S12: 7th

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @stephenclegg95

Instagram: stephen.clegg

Scott Quin

Age: 31

Home town: Loanhead, Midlothian

Classification: S14, SB14, SM14

Scott Quin raced to silver on his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 in a thrilling final where he was just pipped to the wall by ParalympicsGB teammate Aaron Moores.

Since making his international debut at the 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships in Berlin, Quin has continued to demonstrate his potential by producing consistent results in his favourite event, the 100m breaststroke SB14.

He won silver medals in that event at the 2014 European and 2015 World Championships, before repeating that success at Rio.

Following his first Games, Scott once again claimed silver in his favoured event at a home World Championships in London in 2019.

Major Results

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

  • 100m breaststroke SB14: silver

London 2019 World Para Swimming Championships

  • 100m breaststroke SB14: silver

Glasgow 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships

  • 100m breaststroke SB14: silver
  • 200m individual medley SB14: 12th

Montreal 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships

  • 100m breaststroke SB14: 5th

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Louis Lawlor

Age: 19

Home town: Glasgow

Classification: S14, SB14, SM14

Louis Lawlor made his international debut at the World Para Swimming Championships in London in 2019 – and capped it by winning his maiden international medal.

Glasgow-born Lawlor secured a bronze in the S14 100m Backstroke, having finished fourth in the mixed category race at the British Para-Swimming International Meet earlier in the year to confirm his place in the Worlds squad.

He achieved two mixed category podiums at the 2018 British Para-Swimming International Meet in Sheffield, claiming silver in the 100m Butterfly and bronze in the 200m Freestyle event.

Lawlor was also named Best Swimmer at the 2018 Scottish Junior Learning Disability Swimming Championships.

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Instagram: louislawlor2002

Andrew Mullen

Age: 24

Home town: Glasgow

Classification: S5, SB4, SM5

Having made his international debut at the age of 14 at the 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships in Berlin, Andrew Mullen performed well on his Paralympic debut at London 2012, narrowly missing out on a medal as he finished 4th in both the 50m backstroke S5 and the 50m butterfly S5.

On the road to Rio 2016, he scooped numerous international medals, including six medals at the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven (four gold and two silver) in addition to seven individual medals across both the 2013 IPC World Championships in Montreal and the 2015 IPC World Championships in his hometown of Glasgow.

In 2016, Andrew made his mark at the IPC Swimming European Championships by winning four individual gold medals, plus one silver.

At his second Paralympic Games at Rio 2016, Mullen won an incredible three medals, including a silver in the Men’s 50m backstroke S5.

Major Results

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

  • 50m freestyle S5: 5th
  • 100m freestyle S5: bronze
  • 200m freestyle S5: bronze
  • 50m backstroke S5: silver
  • 50m butterfly S5: 4th

London 2012 Paralympic Games

  • 50m freestyle S5: 8th
  • 50m backstroke S5: 4th
  • 50m butterfly S5: 4th

Glasgow 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships

  • 50m backstroke S5: silver
  • 50m butterfly S5: bronze
  • 50m freestyle S5: 4th
  • 100m freestyle S5: bronze
  • 200m freestyle S5: silver

Montreal 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships

  • 50m butterfly S5: bronze
  • 50m backstroke S5: silver
  • 50m freestyle S5: 5th
  • 100m freestyle S5: 4th
  • 200m individual medley SM5: silver

Courtesy of ParalympicsGB

Twitter: @andy_mullen1

Instagram: andy_mullen1