Daily Times

Ellie Challis was first inspired to get into swimming aftr watching a video about a dolphin, and now the Briton is a Paralympic champion after winning the gold medal in the women’s 50m backstroke S3 on Monday. The 20-year-old stormed to victory in Paris’ La Defense Arena, clocking a time of 53.56sec on her way to her first Paralympics gold.

She came in 4.80sec ahead of neutral athlete Zoia Shchurova in the silver medal position, with Spaniard Marta Fernandez Infante completing the podium in bronze. “Joy, relief, happiness, a bit of everything really,” said Challis after the race.

“Obviously, this is what we all dream of and this is the goal for everyone getting into elite sport. “To accomplish that at 20, I couldn’t put it into words really.”

On her Paralympic debut in 2021 at the Covid-impacted Tokyo Games, Challis took silver in the same event.

Now three years on, the swimmer was roared to the gold by her family and coach, who were in the packed crowd. “I’m just so thankful for my dad, my sisters and my coach for everything,” she said.