Amazing Paralympic athletes!
These sporting superstars are at the top of their game…
Every four years, some of the world’s best disabled athletes compete in 23 spectacular sporting events at the Paralympic Games! These Paralympic athletes are raring to go, so come on gang, let’s meet some of the youngest sporting superstars…
PSSSSSST!
Don’t miss the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, running from the 24th of August to the 5th of September!
Ellie Robinson
Aged just 19, awesome Ellie from Team GB won gold and bronze at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, for her sport of S6 classification swimming. After this awesome achievement, Ellie was awarded an MBE by the Queen – and won BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year, too! She’s going for glory again in Tokyo this year – yay!
FUN FACT!
Paralympic stars have a range of disabilities, and so to make it fair, the athletes are given different ‘classifications’ for their sports. This allows people with a similar level of impairment to compete against one another. Smart!
Karé Adenegan
20-year-old wheelchair racer Karé has cerebral palsy, a condition that affects movement and coordination. She made her Paralympic debut in 2016, speeding off with three medals for Team GB! This year she’s hoping to beat her team-mate ‘Hurricane’ Hannah Cockcroft (who has five Paralympic gold medals) in their sport of T34 100m and 800m. Their speedy rivalry in Tokyo is going to be VERY exciting to watch!
Cody Everson
When competitive Cody was paralysed aged 15 by a neck injury he received while playing rugby, he decided that being in a wheelchair wasn’t going to stop him keeping up with the game! Despite being just 23 years old, Cody is now co-captain of the New Zealand ‘Wheel Blacks’ Paralympic rugby team. They’re hoping to win Team NZ a shiny gold medal at the Games this year. Good luck, Cody!
FUN FACT!
Wheelchair rugby is quite different from the rugby played at the Olympics – it includes elements of many other sports, including basketball and ice hockey, and is played in mixed teams of four!
Megan Shackleton
After an accident aged nine left her in a wheelchair, sports-mad Megan tried wheelchair basketball and won several national swimming medals before setting her heart on table tennis! This 22-year-old Paralympic athlete is heading to Tokyo from Todmorden in northern England for her Paralympic debut. Go Megan!
FUN FACT!
The ‘para’ in ‘Paralympic Games’ means parallel! The Games were given this name to show that the competition for disabled athletes worked side-by-side with the more established Olympic Games. Great!
Dylan Littlehales
22-year-old Dylan has been a rising star in para-canoe since his Olympic debut in Rio 2016! Now, he’s returning to Team Australia’s list of Paralympic athletes in the hope of besting the sixth place he received last time. Can he splash past the opposition and into a top spot? We hope so – good luck Dylan!
FUN FACT!
Originally, only wheelchair athletes competed in the Paralympic Games (or Stoke Mandeville Games for wheelchair athletes, as they were known then!). However, in 1976 the Games were expanded to include athletes with a much wider range of impairments. Yay!
Thomas Young
Team GB’s Thomas was born with a rare genetic condition which affects his balance and coordination, but he didn’t realise he could compete as a Paralympic athlete until three years ago! Since then, the 21-year-old sprinter has raced into the record books, winning gold at the European Championships in June for the T38 100m and T38 200m. Wow!
Nicole Turner
Despite being the youngest member of Team Ireland at the 2016 Paralympics, Nicole made the final in all five of her swimming events. That’s pretty remarkable for a 14-year-old! Fast forward five years and 19-year-old Nicole, who has a form of dwarfism, is aiming to reach the finals again in Tokyo. Hopefully this time she’ll head home with a medal!
FUN FACT!
Swimmer Trischa Zorn from the USA has won the most medals of any Paralympic athlete. She’s grabbed a whopping 55 medals, including 41 golds!
Image credits: Megan Shackleton ⓒ British Para Table Tennis, all other images ⓒ Getty Images UK.
What do you think of these awesome Paralympic athletes? Let us know in the comments below!
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Wow that is sooooo cool!!!
Wow!
cool
Nice
so so so cooooooool!!!!
wow
Cool
SO COOL
SO COOL
I think that these Paralympians are extremely inspirational! I really admire their fighting spirit.
good
Love it
I love them all.
I never knew the word 'para' in Paralympics meant parallel. It was so fun to learn about the disableled athletes.
Nice!
nice
It is cool that the Paralympians do so much
cool
hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
cool
these guys are awesome I want to be like them one day
hi
AMAZING
This is so awesome i love watching olympics and paralympics all the time!! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
I like the way Nicole swim
wow go New Zealand.
wow amazing
These guys are so good and they work really hard!
Go Australia
wow
So cool
i always love watch the olympics and i didn't no there was something called as Paralympics
I love watching the Olympics its so much fun. I wish that dance was in the Olympics.
I did not Know that so many people can compete in the Olympics very young ages.
so cool
cool
Wow! So many medals
Cool
super
i never knew any of that
These guys are legendary and they work so hard! There are so many more hard working Paralympians and they are all incredible!
This is amazing
That people are heroes!
I did not Know that so many people can compete in the Olympics very young ages.
Super cool and I love the swimer
cool!
I love this website so educational
Their amazing PEOPLE
very awesome and brave!!!!
COOL
Cool
Oh my gosh!they are so awesome!
cool
Okay thanks for the update thanks for the info.
Epic
Very cool
Cool
c o o l
Cool
very cool to know
cool
wow
Hi
Very educationol
very asome
hi
That is so inspiring
This is amazing. They just never give up even when they want to.
L e t ' s t a k e a c t i o n !
This is so cool it teach to much things that are like an influence to as.
Winners never quit and quitters never win! =) just remember great things take a lot of effort to make true ✨
Gold medals sounds good to me
Their so inspiring aren’t they! Can’t wait for the Paralympics to start! Woohoo
This is soo interesting. I love they are just so inspiring and they never let their disabilities discourage them. Can’t wait wait for the Paralympics to start, I’ll be cheering them on.. woohoo!
This is just amazing how these people do these things!! Fun Fact Did you know Australia have more Paralympic medals than the normal Olympics!!
We have so many amazing Paralympians!
Hello Person I Don’t Know! I have broke my leg myself so I know how it feels to be disabled and it is extremely hard to swim and climb and even move! So they have done like really well to get this far! Outstanding Work Paralympians!
Remember having a disability is just like having a different ability!
It is so cool that they don’t let anything stop them they keep on going and they did not give up
I love how they never give up and become Paralympic.
Its Good To Not Give Up :)
That's so cool!
so cool
Wow! I hope these Paralymipans get a gold medal!!! How courageous of them!
I loved how when they thought their dream was being crushed they did not give up. Their amazing !
I loved how they where trying not to give up , even when they thought that their dream was being crushed they found another way. Their amazing !
Wow go NZ
cool
I've been waiting my whole life for this moment.
COOOoooooooooool
they are so inspiring, it just makes you smile how they keep going
epic
I have dwarfism
this is the best
Brilliant
go paralympimc
Great Job! These stars were inspired an didn't let their disabilities drag them behind. they're awesome!
WOOOOOOOOW
Amazing
Cool!
omg cool
COOOOOOOL
Can’t wait
cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
WOW amazing
i love how you put young people in them
awsome keep up the good work
Wow
cool
cool
nice
These guys are amazing!!! They've inspired me so much!
NICE! YOU HAVE ALOT OF INFO
cool
cool
:)
Wow that's cool
really good
Cool!
love it cant wait for the paralympics
cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wow
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