As part of Disability History Month, we want to celebrate some of the heroes of Team GB at the Paralympic Games 2024.. With 120 Paralympic records broken in Paris, here are 5 Paralympians who smashed World Records this year!
William Ellard made his Paralympics debut this year at age only 18. Having previously won 3 medals at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships, Beccles-born Ellard won medals in 3 events. He broke the record for the Men’s 200m Freestyle S14, taking over a second off the previous record at a time of 1.51.30.
Poppy Maskill was this year’s ParalympicsGB’s most successful athlete, taking home 3 gold a 2 silver medals. She continued her momentum of her previous 5 medals at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships, and her time of 1.03.00 n the Women’s 100m Butterfly S14 saw her take both the gold and the World Record.
Daphne Schrager made her Paralympics debut in 2024 as a cyclist, having previously competed in the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the athletic track at age 17. As an athlete with cerebral palsy, Schrager won silver in Women’s 3000m Individual Pursuit C1-3, whilst achieving the C2 World Record.
Dan Pembroke MBE was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, which is degenerative to sight, at 6 years old. Prior to 2024, he won gold in the 2023 Para Athletics Championship, the 2020 Paralympics and even broke the UK’s age records at 14, 15 and 17 for javelin. His throw of 74.49m won him the gold and the World Record for the javelin throw F13.
Sabrina Fortune had already broken the World Record for Women’s Shotput F20 in the warmup to the 2024 Paralympics. A previous gold medal winner in the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, Fortune broke her own record during the Paralympics with a distance of 15.12m.