Who is Kadeena Cox? Sports Personality of the Year 2016 contender and Paralympic star
The athlete won two golds in Rio for cycling AND sprinting
KADENNA Cox is a Paralympic double gold medal winner from Leeds and is a contender for Sports Personality of the Year 2016.
She was the first British Paralympian to win Paralympic gold medals in multiple sports since 1984 – in cycling and sprinting, which is why she is up for the prestigious BBC award.
What did Kadeena Cox win?
The athlete, 25, won gold in the women’s cycling time trial, gold in the 400m sprint and bronze in the 100m sprint.
She also had the honour of being the British flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony.
A commentator said: “She is rewriting the boundaries of what is possible… What a special, special woman and what a special, special athlete.”
How did she become champion?
Kadeena began sprinting competitively just aged 15 years old, and went on to run 100m in under 12 seconds.
A stroke aged 23 led to her being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She had a burning sensation in her arm which worsened to tingling and then numbness in the whole arm and across her body, including both legs.
Kadeena said: “I was rushed to hospital on the morning of Thursday, September 18 2004, with another suspected stroke.
“I endured horrible tests and examinations, my mind ran through all worst case scenarios before it was finally rules out that I’d had a stoke, but in fact I had a lifelong condition called multiple sclerosis.”
However, despite the MS affecting her movement, especially down the right side of her body, her ability to run fast still remained.
She returned to the track and also discovered a flair for cycling, so pleased to be part of both squads.
She won the T38 athletics 300m and triumphed in the C4-5 time trial. She also took athletics silver in the T35-38 4x100m relay and bronze in the T38 100m.
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