7 Inspirational Women to Watch at the Paris 2024 Paralympics

The Times called her the “Paralympic Heir to Ellie Simmonds”, but Maisie Summers-Newton is planning to make her own mark at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in para swimming.

She is the current world record holder in the SM6 200m Individual Medley – after only making her debut in 2018. At Tokyo she won gold in the 100m breaststroke and 200m individual medley and is said to be in a “great place” ahead of Paris, where she’s aiming for gold.

Beth Munro secured her first ever para taekwondo medal for ParalympicsGB when she won silver in Tokyo in 2021. Initially, she thought she was “too placid” to be a fighter, but being the best has given her the confidence boost she deserves. “It’s definitely a boost to be ranked number one. But you go in on the day and the ranking doesn’t mean anything, you just have to be the best,” she told ParalympicsGB.

Her success comes after having only taken up the sport in 2019, so there’s no doubt Munro will be going for gold in Paris.

Funmi Oduwaiye previously played basketball, representing Wales in a junior tournament and played in the under-18 European Championships of 2019. She later took up para-athletics in 2022 after having multiple surgeries on her legs to correct a condition known as knocked knees. One of the surgeries led to a damaged artery and therefore paralysis in her right leg from the knee down.

Oduwaiye made her international debut last year at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, where she missed out on her first medal by just 20 centimetres. The Welsh thrower is set to appear at Paris 2024 to compete in shot put and discus.

30-year-old Hollie Arnold is set to make her fifth appearance at the Paralympics and is planning to reclaim the F46 javelin title that she won in Rio eight years ago.

Keeping motivation high is her grandfather – Arnold told ParalympicsGB: “My grandad has written me a little note. We think alike a lot of the time and I was thinking that if I’m feeling the extra pressure, just a little something from my grandad would be great. He had written it, taken it out and taken a picture on his iPad – he’s 90! – so this is unreal. I read it and I was in tears. I’ve got it out here with me printed. When I’m feeling any kind of feelings and need to be cheered up, that’s what I read. He’s ridiculously cute!”

After working with her father to develop a way to hold onto a bow with her elbow, Jodie Grinham took up archery and eventually made her way to Rio 2016, where she won Silver alongside John Stubbs in the Mixed Team Compound event. Grinham has a condition called Brachysyndactyly, resulting in a shortened left arm, underdeveloped left shoulder, no fingers and half a thumb on her left hand.

This year, she returns to the Paralympic team for the first time in eight years.

Hannah Cockroft has a few pressing matters on her mind, not only is she set to take part at the Paralympics, but she’s also a bride-to-be, although, she wouldn’t recommend juggling the two.

“People ask whether I have any advice for my younger self and mine would be not to plan a wedding in the same year as a Paralympics,” she shared with ParalympicsGB. The 32-year-old, who already has seven Paralympic golds, is aiming for gold in the 100m and 800m races.

Lauren Rowles has already shared her fresh perspective ahead of Paris 2024, where she’s set to compete in rowing. In March this year, her life partner Jude Hamer, a wheelchair basketball player who has represented Great Britain at three Paralympic Games, gave birth to their son Noah and stepped away from her sport, but Rowles is more determined than ever to go for gold.

“Everything has intensified since I became a mother,” she told ParalympicsGB. “Everybody’s out there with their own challenges – I’ve been through my fair share of them – but to be going to Paris is nothing but a privilege. I’m ready to get out there and try to bring back a medal.”

Lauren Gordon is the editorial coordinator at PS UK, where she creates lifestyle and identity content. Lauren has a degree in journalism from University of the Arts London and previously worked as a showbiz and TV reporter at The Mirror US. Lauren specialises in pop culture, hair and beauty, focusing on trends, sharing in-depth tutorials, and highlighting hidden gems in the beauty industry.