Paralympic rower who won the gold medal Tokyo Said that she tried this sport for the first time to enter university.
24-year-old Ellen Buttrick (Ellen Buttrick) said that boating “brought a lot” to her life because she helped her in Northumbria University Let her move on after receiving a devastating diagnosis of visual impairment while studying there in 2014.
Buttrick suffers from juvenile macular degeneration, which means that her vision will deteriorate throughout her life.
On Wednesday, Batrick and his teammate Giedre Rakauskaite won the gold medal in the PR3 mixed four-a-side final. James Fox Olistin Hope and Cox Irene Kennedy.
After triumphantly returning to the UK, Leeds-born Buttrick joined other athletes in a celebration in London. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Saturday in east London.
Speaking of her introduction to the sport at the event, Butrick said: “I used to go to the local park where there would be rowers. I think this looks very interesting.
“I watched a rowing race on TV– Oxford And Cambridge-I come from a family where I was the first generation to go to university.
“I thought maybe if I rowed, I could go to college, so I signed up for my personal statement.”
“It has brought a lot to my life,” she added.
“I was diagnosed with visual impairment in 2014, and boating is my motivation to stick with it.
“I am not frustrated at all because I think that now I have the opportunity to represent the United Kingdom in the Paralympic Games, so I have always focused on this.”
Buttrick said that the prospect of one of her team members testing positive for the coronavirus after five years of hard work in preparations for the Tokyo Olympics was “difficult to deal with,” but participating in the competition in Japan felt “surreal”.
She said: “It’s a dream to go out to participate in the British Paralympics, and it’s also great to return to the UK and share your success with everyone.”
When asked how the pandemic affected her training before Tokyo, Butrick said: “This is definitely a challenge.
“In the past year, I have suffered several injuries, and I think my body will be able to recover in the last year.
“It is difficult to have to maintain such a long time of training and stay focused, but because there is such an amazing support around us, mainly funded by the National Lottery, we have been very good and we already have everything we need there.
“I am very happy that we got there and successfully won the gold medal, and hope to make this country proud.”
Buttrick’s goal is to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics and hopes her family will be able to watch in person after the audience is suspended in Tokyo due to Covid-19 conditions.
