Page 55 - Great Elizabethans

“Being in a wheelchair has given me more mobility, not less. It's never stopped me from doing anything
I wanted to do.”
RACING CAREER
Tanni had to have another operation on her back after that, which stopped her competing for a year. But when she returned, there was no stopping her. In the Barcelona Paralympics in 1992 she took home FOUR gold medals – in the 100 metres,
200 metres, 400 metres and 800 metres!
During her racing career, Tanni won a total of 16 medals, 11 of
Tanni broke more than 30 world records during her athletic career. She is Britain’s greatest ever Paralympic athlete.
which were gold medals, at five Paralympic Games between 1988 and 2004. She also won another 12 medals at the World
Championships – and won the London Marathon women’s wheelchair race six times!
FIGHTING FOR RIGHTS
In 2007, Tanni announced that she was retiring from
sport – but she certainly wasn’t disappearing from public life.
She presented TV programmes, worked with charities, and campaigned
for access to sport for people with disabilities. Her quick wit and determination
made her as popular and successful on screen as she had been on the track. In recognition of her achievements, she was made first a Dame, and then a Baroness.
In 2013, Tanni gave a speech in Parliament about the ways in which people with disabilities are still often insulted or poorly treated. She talks openly about hurtful or ignorant things that people have said to her and to other people with disabilities, and fights fiercely for their rights, for women and children’s rights, and for the people in society who need help and don’t get it.
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