The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

the Disability

Sportswoman of the

Year. Seven Paralympic

golds, and 11 world and

three European titles:

that is her haul from a

decade at the top.

With so little

jeopardy, one could

forgive Cockroft for

losing her competitive

edge. Not so. Even with

the disruption of the

pandemic she trained

until her already-

unrivalled standards

had improved. She

acclimatised to the

conditions of Tokyo by

training inside a plastic

greenhouse in her

garden. “I’ve been to

the last two Games and

won five golds, so

anything less than gold

wouldn’t be enough, I

wouldn’t be satisfied,”

she said.

Hannah Cockroft (athletics);

Kadeena Cox (cycling and

athletics); Bethany Firth

(swimming); Phoebe

Paterson Pine (archery);

Emma Wiggs, Charlotte

Henshaw and Laura Sugar

(para-canoeing)

DISABILITY

SPORTSWOMAN

SHORTLIST

Ellie Simmonds is still

marvelling at how

much time she has. The

27-year-old swimmer,

one of the most

successful British

Paralympic athletes,

retired from

international

competition after the

Tokyo Games this year

and is suddenly free of

the schedules that

command an athlete’s

life. “For the moment,

I’m just like, ‘What shall

I do, every single day?’ ”

she says, laughing. “It’s

The Sunday Times November 28, 2021 15

WHEELS

ON FIRE

A

t the start of 2021, it’s fair to

say that even cycling afi-

cionados might not have

known much about Beth

Shriever. She ended it with a

claim to being arguably one

of this country’s most domi-

nant sportswomen. And her

achievements shone a spotlight on a

story that was not only about her

impressive sacrifice and skill, but also

about community and reliance on

others.

Shriever was not among the favour-

ites for Olympic gold in the women’s

BMX race. In fact, you would have had

to have flicked through a lot of Tokyo

2020 preview pullouts to find even

one which mentioned Shriever, a

21-year-old from Essex, as being

among Team GB’s outside contenders

for a medal. I’ll let you in on a little

secret: so unexpected was her ride to

glory that The Times did not originally

have a reporter assigned to cover that

session at the Ariake Urban Sports

Park. But I noticed that she had been

serenely impressive in qualifying,

went along, and found myself cover-

ing one of the best British stories of

the Games.

Shriever was utterly

dominant. There were

three semi-final races

and a final that day:

she didn’t lose one.

She was the class of

the field. After her vic-

tory, she was so utterly

exhausted from her ferocious pedal-

ling that she could barely even stand,

so Kye Whyte, who had won silver in

‘I wouldn’t be here

if I didn’t have that

help. The experience

I got from doing all

those races has led

YOUNG SPORTSWOMAN me to where I am’

OF THE YEAR

m Essex, as being

s outside contenders

et you in on a little

ected was her ride to

mes did not originally

ssigned to cover that

riake Urban Sports

d thatshehadbeen

sive in qualifying,

found myself cover-

est British stories of

tterly

were

races

day:

one.

ss of

er vic-

utterly

her ferocious pedal-

d barely even stand,

ho had won silver in

Beth Shriever’s Olympic BMX

gold a testament to sacrifice,

skill... and crowdfunding

quite nice actually —

you realise how much

more time you have.

I’ve been competing at

the Paralympics and

world championships

since I was 12. Now it’s

ended, I’m just trying to

see what there is.”

So Simmonds is

taking every

opportunity that

comes her way. She

has joined the board

for the Commonwealth

Games, which will be

held in Birmingham

next year, and is

working on a

documentary for the

BBC. Most importantly,

she is spending as

much time as possible

with her family.

Simmonds, who said

she was “blown away

and honoured” to win

the award, has been

the poster girl for

Paralympic sport in this

country since the

London 2012 Games,

when her face was

plastered across

billboards as part of

Channel 4’s advertising

campaign.

“To be part of the

Paralympic movement,

to showcase what the

Paralympics are all

about... to inspire that

next generation, has

been an honour,”

Simmonds said.

Cockroft, 29, won that

final by almost 11

seconds, just missing

the world record she

had set in May, one of

seven she had set over

the course of nine

races in Switzerland.

Six days earlier in

Tokyo, she had

successfully undercut

her global best in the

100m, finishing in

16.39sec. The two

golds helped make her

HELEN

ROLLASON

AWARD FOR

INSPIRATION

Recognising inspirational

endeavour in honour of the

late sports presenter Helen

Rollason, the first female

presenter of BBC

Grandstand who died of

cancer in 1999, aged 43

ABOUT THE AWARD

Simmonds has

been the face of

Paralympics GB

DISABILITY

SPORTSWOMAN

Rebecca Myers

Zoe Backstedt (cycling); Sky

Brown (skateboarding); Alice

Capsey (cricket); Keely

Hodgkinson (athletics); Beth

Shriever (BMX); Maisie

Summers-Newton (swimming)

ASADOUR GUZELIAN

Forty-five minutes

before her T34 800m

Paralympic final,

Hannah Cockroft

slashed her hand open.

Persistent rain had

lubricated her wheels,

she lost grip and her

hand slipped through

the spokes. There was

no time for stitches — a

rare battle against the

clock that Cockroft

lost. That is the only

type of battle she

has anymore, really.

If she turns up, cut

hand or not, only the

gap between her and

second is at stake.

his

ng

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at

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Persiste

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JAMES

GHEERBRANT

YOUNG SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR

SHORTLIST

the men’s race a few minutes earlier,

carried her in his arms: an indelible

image not only of British success, but

also of support and camaraderie

among team-mates.

After she won, Shriever began to

tell her story. She used to work as a

part-time teaching assistant. In the

middle of the Olympic cycle, British

Cycling withdrew central funding

from Britain’s female BMX racers, so

she launched a crowdfunding appeal

to cover the costs of training and

travel.

“I got to Australia [for a competi-

tion] with that money,” she said. That

was where British Cycling recognised

her potential and asked her to return

to the fold. “I’m so, so grateful to the

people who helped me out,” she said.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have all

that help — the experience I got from

doing all those races with that money,

all the training. It’s led me to where I

am.” It’s not uncommon for it to feel

like everyone has a stake in the suc-

cess of a British Olympic champion.

But perhaps never so literally.

To top it off, Shriever went to the

BMX World Championships in the

Netherlands in August and added the

world title to her Olympic gold, win-

ning by more than a second over the

rider in second place. Great Britain

has had made velodrome heroines

over the past 15 years, but Shriever

could potentially inspire a whole new

wave of female cyclists. The future

looks bright for this irrepressible tal-

ent.

Shriever with her

award, above, and

in arms of Whyte

A cut above:

Hannah Cockroft

Elgan Alderman