Tracksuit worn by athlete Tanny Grey-Thompson, Paraolympics, Barcelona, 1992

Description

Born in Cardiff in 1969, Tanni Grey-Thompson became the highest-achieving and possibly the most inspirational paraolympians in the UK.

At the age of 15, Grey-Thompson won the 100 metres at the Junior National Wheelchair Games. Three years later, she was selected by the British Wheelchair Racing Squad to compete in the first World Wheelchair Games.

Thompson won her first Paraolympic medal, the 400m bronze, at Seoul in 1988. Despite undergoing spinal surgery and being forced to take a year away from the track, she won four gold medals at the Barcelona Paraolympics in 1992 in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m.

Four years later she won gold again in the 800m in the Atlanta Paraolympics, and silver in the 100, 200 and 400 metres. However, her return to the Paraolympics in 2000 saw a return to true form, winning gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m for the second time.

Thompson won another two gold medals at the Athens Paraolympics in 2004, bringing her total to 11 gold medals.

Tanni Grey-Thompson was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1992 and 2000, and in 2005 she was made a Dame of the British Empire.