Paris 2024 Paralympics: The Paralympians travelling to Paris from our region

The Paris 2024 Paralympics Opening Ceremony takes place tonight, which will set off 11 days of competition, from 29 August to 8 September 2024.

ParalympicsGB have been in the top five positions of the medal table since the inaugural Games in Rome 1960, according to the Paralympic British Association.

The nation has also poled in the top three positions of the medal table since the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.

The international Paralympic Committee says the Paralympic Games will welcome more than 4,000 athletes worldwide to compete in 549 medal events.

With more than 200 ParalympicsGB athletes taking part, here's the three athletes from our region who are travelling to Paris.

Who are the athletes from our region competing in Paris 2012 Paralympics?

Sammi Kinghorn

The Melrose-born Paralympian, who is a wheelchair racer, won two medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games, claiming a bronze medal in the T53 100m and a sliver medal in T53 400m.

The 28-year-old introduced herself on the international stage when she claimed three gold medals at the European Championships in Swansea in 2014.

The Borders athlete made her first Paralympic appearance in Rio 2016 when she finished 5th in the T53 100m and 6th in the T53 800m events.

Sammi was involved in an accident at her family farm when she was 14 and was crushed by a forklift truck driven by her father, resulting in her paralysis from the waist down.

The Paralympian competes in the disability sport classification T53 which involves athletes with spinal cord disabilities.

Sammi will be competing in four different events, the T53 100m, 400m, 800m and 4x100m relay.

Anna Nicholson

Anna Nicholson, 29, from Brampton, who has cerebral palsy, is about to embark on her second Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 - competing in the F35 shot put.

Anna first got involved in para athletics in 2010 while attending a county athlete assessment day. This inspired her to start training and she began competing in disability athletics in May 2011.

Anna starred in the World Junior Games and World Para Athletics Championships before being selected for her first Paralympics in 2020, where she finished in sixth place.

The 29-year-old competes in the F35 shot put classification which includes athletes with coordination impairments.

Anna recently set a new personal best of 9.47m at the World Para Athletics Grad Prix in Paris last year.

Alongside her sport, Anna also has a master's degree in chemical engineering and works in the car production industry.

Before April she had to balance working full-time while training throughout the week.

Since then she has been able to reduce her hours, which allows her to focus more of her time on the upcoming games.

Nathan MacQueen

Nathan MacQueen, 33, from Dumfries, was involved in Scotland's archery team before sustaining a spinal cord injury.

MacQueen made his international debut a few months before his first Paralympic appearance in Rio 2016, where he finished ninth.

The 33-year-old became impaired after being involved in a serious motorbike accident when he was 17-years-old.

During his recovery, Nathan took up powerlifting and wheelchair basketball before deciding to solely focus on shooting arrows.

In 2023, Nathan leaped to the top of the rankings as a world sliver medalist and a double European champion in the men's individual and team competitions. Macqueen is heading to his third Paralympics currently ranked second in the world.

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