Primary History - Famous People

Why is Tanni famous?

Racing in a wheelchair
Tanni Grey-Thompson is a famous 'Paralympian'. She was born with a medical condition that stopped her from walking and running. Being in a wheelchair did not stop Tanni becoming a champion in athletics.

What is a Paralympian?
A Paralympian is an athlete with a disability. Paralympians take part in the Paralympic Games and other sports events. Disability can mean a person has to use a wheelchair. It can mean a person has difficulty walking, seeing, hearing or learning. It does not mean they can't enjoy sport.

What did she do?
Tanni Grey-Thompson took part in four Paralympic Games. She won 11 gold medals. She won the London Marathon six times. After she retired from racing, she went on helping disabled sportspeople. Her story inspires many people to take part in sport.

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Tanni's childhood

Why Tanni?
Tanni was born on 26 July 1969 in Cardiff, Wales. Her full name was Carys Davina Grey. Her sister Sian gave her the name Tanni.

Sian was 2 when she first saw baby Carys. Sian called the baby 'tanni', meaning 'tiny'. And Tanni she stayed.

Why was walking a problem?
Tanni was born with spina bifida. Spina bifida affects babies before they are born. Having it meant Tanni could not walk easily. She wore braces on her legs. When she was 7, she started to use a wheelchair.

School sport
Her parents soon saw that Tanni wanted to do things on her own. So did her teachers at school. Tanni found out for herself what she could do.

She enjoyed sports. She liked archery, basketball, swimming and horse riding.

The London Marathon
Watching the London Marathon on TV made Tanni want to be an athlete.

The London Marathon was first run in 1981. More than 7000 runners ran the 26-mile course. Today more than 35,000 people take part in the Marathon every year. Some are star runners. But most people run for fun to raise money for charity. Since 1983 wheelchair athletes take part too.

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Olympic athlete

Wheelchair racer
When she was 13, Tanni tried wheelchair racing. When she was 15, she raced for Wales in the Junior National Wheelchair Games. She won the 100-metre race.

Training
At 18, Tanni joined the Bridgend athletics club. It had a grass running track, not so easy for a wheelchair. But there were lots of paths to train on. In winter, she and her friends used a multi-storey car park, racing up and down the car ramps. This was rather dangerous!

First Olympic Games
In 1988, Tanni was chosen to race for Great Britain at the Paralympic Games. The Games were held in South Korea. It was a long way from Wales!

It was Tanni's first Paralympics. She came home with a bronze medal. Being a disabled athlete brought many challenges. She felt 'you were on your own for most of it'.

First gold medal
After a year off for an operation, Tanni won 4 gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Barcelona is in Spain. She won the 100 metres, 200m, 400m and 800m races. Tanni was now Britain's most famous disabled athlete.

Overcoming barriers
Not everyone in sport welcomed disabled athletes. In 1994, at the Commonwealth Games in Canada, one official said athletes with a disability were 'an embarrassment'.

Today, disabled athletes from many countries take part in the Paralympic Games. They do sports such as archery, athletics, basketball, cycling and tennis.

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Sports star

Record-breaker
Tanni set 30 world records! One of her records was being the first woman wheelchair athlete to race 400 metres in under 1 minute.

In 1996, she took part in the Olympic Games at Atlanta (USA). She won 1 gold medal and 3 silver medals.

In 2000, in Sydney (Australia), Tanni won 4 gold medals. In Athens (Greece) in 2004, she won 2 more gold medals.

In 2002, Tanni carried the flag for Wales in the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.

Family life
In 1999, Tanni married Dr Ian Thompson. They had a daughter, Carys, in 2002.

Tanni said this about her sports career and being a mum: 'My gold medals in Sydney meant I was the best person in the world at the time in those events, whereas Carys is 24 hours a day for the next 60 years and being the best mother I can be.'

Life after racing
Tanni retired from racing in 2007. She spends a lot of time helping others to enjoy sport. She works with the Sports Council for Wales, and other groups.

Tanni was voted BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year three times. In 2000, she came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Dame Tanni
Tanni has many awards. In 2004, she became Dame Tanni, after the award of a DBE. In 2009, she was made a member of the Gorsedd at the National Eisteddfod. In 2010, she became a member of the House of Lords.

Taking part
Tanni says: 'we need more disabled people who are not so good at sport taking part'.

Sport is not just about winning medals. It is about taking part, having fun, and keeping healthy.

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