WILL CLARK: Highland Paralympic Games heroes Fin Graham and Hope Gordon can help inspire next generation of medallists
The Paralympics came to a close on Sunday as once again disability sport enjoyed a global audience the likes of which it is only afforded every four years.
Thanks to Channel 4, since London 2012, the Paralympics has been given almost around the clock coverage which was unheard of beforehand.
Before 2012, in the UK away, I can only remember the Paralympics being given a couple of hours a night on BBC Two.
The benefits has been shown as Great Britain finished in second place on the medal table, with only China finishing above.
It has also been fantastic to see para-athletes from the Highlands
shine and also win medals on the biggest stage of them all.
I have followed the career of Strathpeffer cyclist Fin Graham closely, having interviewed him several times over the years.
After winning two silver medals in Tokyo in 2021, he went on to win
another silver medal in the 3000 metres individual pursuit. Then on
Saturday, he got the one that he wanted as in a sprint to the finish,
he won gold in the C1-C3 road race.
It was a dream come true for the 24-year-old who has added the biggest
prize of all to his world titles which he has won over the course of
his career.
Graham was born with bilateral club feet, which left him with no calf
muscle and little to no movement in his ankles.
Having fallen in love with cycling at the age of four, Graham began
competing in mountain biking three years later and raced across
Scotland. He caught the attention of British Cycling’s para-cycling
coaches in 2016 at a talent identification day in Derby and later
relocated to Manchester where he has based since.
As well as his success in the Paralympics, Graham has won six world
titles since Tokyo, including winning the C3 Road Race World
Championship and individual pursuit in Glasgow last year.
He wasn’t the only Highlander who was winning medals at the
Paralympics in Paris.
Hope Gordon from Rogart in Sutherland claimed a silver medal in the
VL3 Canoe final
The 29-year-old finished in second place in the final which took
place on Saturday morning.
Gordon’s left leg was amputated due to Complex Pain Regional Syndrome
is a full-time athlete based at the British Canoeing Centre in
Nottingham.
She became Paralympic GB’s first ever female Para Nordic skier at the
Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.
She won a gold medal at the Para Canoe World Championships in
Duisburg, Germany, in August 2023, clocking a career best time of
56.199 seconds in the women’s VL3 200m race.
It has been fantastic reporting on these two athletes for our
newspapers across the Highlands. We hope what these two have achieved will prove inspirational for other disabled athletes to attempt to achieve their own personal dreams.
Across Inverness and the Highlands there are some fantastic sports groups which encourage disabled people to get involved.
Over the years, I have had the privilege on reporting the achievements of disabled athletes in athletics, basketball, bowls, martial arts, swimming, among others sports.
They have shown can’t is a word which they refuse to use.
The achievements of people like Fin and Hope will prove to be an inspiration to disabled people in the Highlands that if they set their
minds to something, they are capable of achieving whatever they aspire to.
