Libby Clegg MBE

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.

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