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Sammi Kinghorn

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Samantha Kinghorn
MBE
Kinghorn in 2024
Personal information
Full nameSamantha May Kinghorn
Born (1996-01-06) 6 January 1996 (age 28)
EducationEarlston High School[1]
Sport
SportWheelchair racing
DisabilityParalysed below the waist
Disability classT53
ClubRed Star
Coached byIan Mirfin
Medal record
Women's para-athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 100 m T53
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris 400 m T53
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris 800 m T53
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris 1500 m T54
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris mixed 4×100 m relay
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 100 m T53
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 London 100m - T53
Gold medal – first place 2017 London 200m - T53
Gold medal – first place 2023 Paris 100m - T53
Silver medal – second place 2023 Paris 400m - T53
Silver medal – second place 2023 Paris 800m - T53
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Doha 200m - T53
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Swansea 100m - T53
Gold medal – first place 2014 Swansea 400m - T53
Gold medal – first place 2014 Swansea 800m - T53

Samantha "Sammi" May Kinghorn MBE (born 6 January 1996) is a British World Champion wheelchair racer[2] and TV presenter. At the 2024 paralympics she won a gold medal.

Personal history

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In December 2010 Kinghorn was crushed by snow and ice which fell from the roof at the family farm breaking her back. She had emergency surgery and spent five months in hospital.[3][4] The injury to her spine left her paralysed from the waist down.[5] Since then she uses a wheelchair for mobility. While in the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southern General Hospital her physiotherapist took her to Stoke Mandeville Stadium to take part in the WheelPower Inter Spinal Games where she was able to try out a variety of wheelchair sports, leading to her taking up wheelchair racing.[1] She said:

I thought I’d be in a bed forever. So, to then get into a wheelchair was amazing. I know it sounds strange, but I was so happy. “Then to find I could actually compete in sport in my wheelchair has just been incredible. Sport has helped me hugely, helped me to really accept it .[4]

Athletics career

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Kinghorn is part of the Glasgow disability sports club Red Star,[5] where she is coached by Ian Mirfin MBE (new years honours list 2015/16). She is classified as a T53 para-athlete.[2] Sammi is the fastest ever female British wheelchair racer regardless of classification over 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m.

Samantha Kinghorn at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, T53 100 metres sprint, where she finished fifth.

Kinghorn's first race was the 2012 London Mini Marathon, where she came second.[4] Since then she has won many medals in domestic competitions[2] and set Scottish records in the 100m and 200m.[4] In 2013 Kinghorn was one of the first competitors to be named in the Scotland squad for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She was chosen to be an athlete ambassador for Harper Macleod and a short promotional film [6] was made of her preparations for the Games.[7] In the buildup to the Games, Kinghorn was named Glasgow's Disabled Athlete of the Year. At the Commonwealth Games she took part in the T54 1500m, and after qualifying third in her heat, she placed fifth in the final.[8]

Kinghorn represented Team GB at the 2014 IPC European Championships in Swansea where she won Britain's first gold medal in the T53 Women's 400m[9] and went on to win further golds over 100m and 800m.[10]

Kinghorn competed for Team GB at 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She placed 5th and 6th in the 100m and 400m T53 events but was disqualified in the 400m[11]

Kinghorn achieved a sprint double at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in the winning the 100m and 200m.[12]

In 2017 she will debut over the marathon distance in an attempt to qualify for the 2018 Commonwealth Games [13]

At the end of June 2021 she was in Manchester for the British Athletic Championships where she was second in a mixed classification 400m wheelchair race behind Hannah Cockroft and with Mel Woods third.[14]

Kinghorn was among nine Scottish athletes who were chosen to compete at the postponed 2020 Summer Paralympics. Most were announced in July 2021. The others were Mel Woods, Libby Clegg, Jo Butterfield, Maria Lyle, Owen Miller, Derek Rae, Stef Reid and Ben Rowlings.[15]

Kinghorn was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to disability sport.[16]

Kinghorn represented Team GB at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she won a gold medal in the T53 Women's 100m, and silver in the 400m, 800m, and 1,500m.[17]

Career in Television

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In 2023, Kinghorn began her career in television by appearing as a presenter on BBC's Countryfile.[18][19] She had previously featured in an episode of BBC's The One Show.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Snow crush girl Samantha Kinghorn holds Paralympic goal". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Athlete Profile". thepowerof10.info. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Girl 'stable' after being hit by ice on Borders farm". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 4 December 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d Ferguson, David (30 August 2012). "Teenager Samantha Kinghorn and Mollie, her much-loved wheelchair, are aiming for Glasgow and Rio". scotsman.com. The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  5. ^ a b Winton, Richard (19 April 2013). "Kinghorn and 'Mollie'ready to roll in London". heraldscotland.com. Herald Scotland. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Samantha Kinghorn: Greatness Begins Behind the Scenes". YouTube. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  7. ^ Goddard, Emily (13 December 2014). "Short film released revealing wheelchair racer Kinghorn's life behind the scenes". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Athletics: Women's Para-Sport 1500m - T54". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  9. ^ Johnson, Phil (19 August 2014). "Samantha Kinghorn wins two golds on GB debut". thesouthernreporter.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  10. ^ "IPC European Championships: Gold again for Samantha Kinghorn and Maria Lyle". www.berwickshirenews.co.uk. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Councillors applaud brave Sammi as she wins a GB place in Rio". www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  12. ^ "World Para-athletics Championships: Britain's Sammi Kinghorn wins gold". BBC Sport. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Marathon goals on horizon for Samantha Kinghorn". Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Muller British Champs (Sunday): Jemma and Beth book Tokyo tickets". Scottish Athletics. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Now it's nine! - Mel Woods added to Para team". Scottish Athletics. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  16. ^ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B21.
  17. ^ "Paralympics 2024: Sammi Kinghorn beats Catherine Debrunner to win 100m gold". BBC Sport. 4 September 2024.
  18. ^ "BBC One - Countryfile, Cumbrian Shepherdess - Spring". BBC.
  19. ^ "BBC One - Countryfile, Lambing Special". BBC.
  20. ^ "Sammi Kinghorn appears on BBC's One Show". Border Telegraph. 21 July 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2023
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