Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, DDE, DL is one of the most recognizable faces in British sport. Born with spina bifida, Grey-Thompson has always been a wheelchair user. Following an exceptional career studded with gold medals and world records, Grey-Thompson enjoyed a successful career in television presenting and remains an influential and iconic figure in in the sporting world. Tanni-Grey Thompson is an inspirational speaker who can be booked through talent agency MN2S.
Grey-Thompson began her athletic career in the Junior National Games for Wales in 1984, dabbling in wheelchair basketball in addition to wheelchair racing. Four years later she was competing in the latter event at her first international event, the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea. It was at this major championship that Grey-Thompson won a bronze medal for the 400m event. The Paralympic tournaments that would follow her international debut were a testament to Grey-Thompson’s outstanding skill and she dominated many events.
At the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games she won an incredible four gold medals, in the 100m, the 200m, the 400m and the 800m. She took home four gold medals once again (in the same four events) at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games. Her final Paralympic appearance was at the 2004 Games in Athens, and she once more took to the podium, winning gold in the 100m and 400m events for wheelchair racing. At the close of her Paralympic career, Grey-Thompson was left not only with an awe inspiring 16 medals, 11 of which are gold but also 13 World Championship medals. Grey-Thompson also managed to hold over 30 world records during her career and won the London Marathon a total of six times over the course of a decade.
Although she announced her retirement in 2007, Grey-Thompson has certainly not slowed down and remains incredibly involved and active within the sporting community. In the months leading up to her retirement, Grey-Thompson began taking on broadcasting duties at the BBC, something she made a smooth transition into post-retirement. She was subsequently named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year a total of three times (1992, 2000 and 2004).
She has also long been an ambassador for disability in sports, sitting on the board of the National Disability Council – something she began during her competitive career – and also is Chair of the Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation Commission on the Future of Women’s Sport. Grey-Thompson also sat on the panel for the Mission 2012 initiative for three years; the panel tracked the progress of Olympic and Paralympic sports in the lead up to both events, to help them efficiently reach respective performance goals.
Grey-Thompson is also the patron of a number of charities including Sportsleaders UK, Sportsaid Foundation, the Wembley Stadium Legacy Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. She was announced as the President of the Leadership 20:20 Commission in 2011. Grey-Thompson’s autobiography was released in 2001, titled Seize the Day. She received the honour of her MBE in 1993, in recognition of her services to sport, this was advanced to an OBE in 2000 and finally the very prestigious is DBE in 2005. Grey-Thompson has also received a number of tributes in the form of honourary degrees from many prominent university institutions such as Oxford University and Bath University. This October, Grey-Thompson was made chancellor of Northumbria in Newcastle.
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