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Thursday, 16 November, 2000, 14:24 GMT
Paralympic hero sees golden future
Tanni Grey-Thompson claimed four golds in Sydney
BBC Sport Online's Ben Dirs reports on Tanni Grey-Thompson's plea to keep the profile of disabled sports in the media.
With yet another successful Paralympic Games under her belt in Sydney, Tanni Grey-Thompson could easily be described as a British sporting legend. She is certainly an inspiration to those in the disabled community and her achievements were recognised by UK Athletics, who named her female Paralympic athlete of the year recently. But her second consecutive Paralympic haul of four gold medals should make her a British sporting icon without qualifications. However, the Paralympic champion in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m wheelchair events believes the overwhelming success of the Games has helped raise the profile of disabled athletes to new levels.
"Since returning it has actually been quite frantic because the profile of the Paralympics was much higher this time and media coverage reflected that," she told BBC Sport Online.
Wider coverage "The wider coverage shows how seriously it was taken. Sydney was such a positive image." The four-time winner of the London Marathon is particularly pleased that a host of athletes, successful and unsuccessful, shared the media spotlight in Sydney. "It was better than having one or two athletes being show-cased. We must spread the news that there are many athletes winning gold." The shift away from the token coverage of the past can only drive disabled sport forward. Role models Grey-Thompson said: "What we need are more athletes on TV and in the media being role models for young athletes coming through."
But after her heroics in Sydney, she plans to take a deserved rest away from the international athletic scene. "I want to have a normal life for a while. The whole of the last 18 months have been focused on Sydney. "As an athlete you become insular and selfish and for my own piece of mind I want to try other things." Wheelchair basketball "Other things" includes the prospect of taking up wheelchair basketball for Great Britain over the winter months, but only if she makes the side. The rest of time will be spent with her family, something she is really looking forward to. And how does Grey-Thompson reflect on the Games a month on? "I went into the Games with the expectation of two gold and two silver medals, so winning four golds was pretty special.
"There were a lot of people asking whether I was going to do another Barcelona, but I was more relaxed going into Sydney", she added. But the Birmingham-based athlete is quick to redirect the flow of the conversation to the bigger picture. "The profile of disabled sport in the UK is so high at the moment it would be a shame for that to disappear. Come together "Disabled groups need to come together and have more co-ordinated events. "Not all disability groups have the same fantastic opportunities that wheelchair athletes have." The basis for more success at the Pan-Disabled European Championships has been established after the record medal haul in Australia and with the World Championships taking place the following year, disabled sport is in the healthiest state it has ever been in. But Grey-Thompson still believes the profile can be raised that little bit further. She said: "We need major events to keep the momentum going. We don't want it to disappear and have to be built up again for Athens." Whether Tanni Grey-Thompson will be competing in Athens remains to be seen. But one thing is definite - she will certainly still be looking at the bigger picture.
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See also:
14 Nov 00 | Sports Personality
12 Nov 00 | Athletics
29 Oct 00 | Paralympics
27 Oct 00 | Paralympics
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