Paralympian praises 'incredible' parents

Karé Adenegan won two silver medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Summer Games

A wheelchair racer from Coventry has thanked her family for their support during her Paralympic career.

Karé Adenegan won two silver medals at the 2024 Paris Games, taking her total Paralympic medal tally across three games to seven.

"My parents have been incredible through my whole career, taking me where I need to go, and it was amazing to have them in Paris, especially after Tokyo with lockdown when they were unable to be there."

She said she was "hungry to get back training" following the Paris games, and was targeting a gold medal at the Los Angeles Paralympic Games in 2028.

Ms Adenegan specialises in sprint distances in the T34 classification.

Having dreamed as a child of one day going to a Paralympic Games, to now be a seven-time Paralympic medallist was "unbelievable".

The athlete said she was really pleased to have taken two silver medals in Paris, but "being a competitor, part of me would have loved to have been a bit faster in terms of the times."

She began wheelchair racing after watching Hannah Cockroft win her first gold medals at London 2012, a games she describes as "such a turning point" for Paralympic sport.

"Seeing those massive stadiums packed, and I think Paris has had a similar effect, and I'm just hoping those who were watching Paris were inspired."

She said she was "so proud" to be from Coventry, the city where she grew up and continued to train in, and hoped to be a role model for others locally.

"This is beyond my wildest dreams, the fact that I keep going [to Paralympic Games], medalling and representing my country."

The headteacher of her former school, Bablake in Coventry, said he had encouraged all his pupils to be "more like Karé," due to her hard work, the example she sets to others, and how she stays true to her values and faith.