First civic medal for Paralympian

Shelly Woods will be the first person to be given the Blackpool civic medal

Medal winning Lancashire Paralympian Shelly Woods has received a special civic medal to complement the pair she won at the Beijing games.

Blackpool Council decided to honour her sporting achievements by awarding the elite athlete with a specially commissioned medal.

Council leader Peter Callow said she was an inspiration to young athletes.

The council has never given a civic medal before. The award ceremony took place at Blackpool Town hall.

Mr Callow added: "Her tenacity in Beijing was supreme - especially when you consider that she had a silver medal taken from her and had to race the same race again.

"The whole town was behind Shelly and her medal wins created a real buzz around Blackpool which cemented the idea of this special medal."

Shelly Woods attended Claremont Primary School and then Highfield High School and did much of her training in Stanley Park in the seaside resort.

She also goes into primary and secondary schools in Blackpool talking to the children and students about what its like to be an elite athlete.

She won a bronze medal in the women's athletics T54 5,000m final and a silver medal in the T54 1500m at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.