Tokyo 2020: Wheelchair racer Nathan Mcguire going to gold in the Paralympics

A Paralympian who has spent months training for the heat of Tokyo in his pop-up greenhouse is hoping to bring back gold as he races at Tokyo 2020.

Nathan Maguire is aiming for medals in the 400 metres, 800 metres and the relay, and is already beating his personal bests since his arrival in Japan.

The wheelchair athlete from Chester is competing in his second games, and says his ambition is growing.

Credit: PA Images

Nathan says he has been inspired by Team GB's Olympic success.

He said: "I literally watched it [Olympics] wall to wall. I didn't stop watching the games the entire time it was on - it was kind of giving us a taste of what's to come.

"I was even watching people on TikTok and on Facebook and Twitter. Getting them to wander around the village, so it's not all new when we first get there, it's making us so much more excited."

But the 23-year-old added that the Covid pandemic has meant his experience will be different to his last.

"Obviously it's devastating there's going to be no crowds," he said. "It's a shame, but we're here to race and I'm just buzzing that I'm in Tokyo right now.

"This time last year it didn't even look like we were going to be here."

Nathan was playing wheelchair basketball within two weeks of his diagnosis.

Nathan had to quickly adapt when became paralysed from the chest down overnight at just eight-years-old.

He said: "I went to bed and I woke up the next morning and I couldn't walk.

"I had something called transverse myelitis overnight so my immune system attacked my spinal cord so I can't really feel much from [my chest] down, and I've not walked since."

But, Nathan did not allow his diagnosis to stop him - and says he was playing wheelchair basketball within two weeks after coming out of hospital.

Nathan has Paralympic experience of racing in Rio plus seven European medals - including gold in a world record breaking universal sprint relay.

But the bar is set higher in his Chester home - his partner is Hurricane Hannah Cockroft, the five-time Paralympic gold medallist.

Nathan and partner Hannah Cockroft Credit: PA Images

The pair are constantly competing over everything, but Nathan says, it inspires them to be successful.

He said: "Everything in our house is a competition, who can put their clothes away the quickest, who can do the dishes the quickest.

"I think that's one of the reasons we're so successful as a pair of athletes. On the day when she didn't want to train, I was like 'come on we're going training', on the days I didn't want to train, she would say 'no, come on sort it out', so it definitely helped."

Nathan added he is determined to bring home a Tokyo medal to add to Hannah's collection.

What does Nathan Mcguire race in?

  • Nathan is a T54 wheelchair races and competes in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m.

  • He has competed at three European Championships, two World Championships, a Commonwealth Games and the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

When did he begin racing?

  • Nathan began wheelchair racing in 2014 in the London Mini Marathon.

  • He won the race, setting a new course record which still stands today.

What medals has he won?

  • In 2018 at the Berlin European Championships he won three bronze medals in the T54 100m, 200m, & 800m. He was also part of a Gold medal winning 4x100m Universal Relay team - setting a World Record.

  • In 2021 at the Poland European Championships he won three medals - two bronze in the T54 400m & 800m, and a silver in the 4x100m Universal Relay team.