FOUR years after working as a volunteer at London 2012, Anne Dickins is a Paralympic kayak champion after overcoming motion sickness.
And 20 years after becoming a Paralympic swimming champion, Jeanette Chippington won the first Paralympic canoeing title as the sport made its debut in Rio.
Chippington’s KL1 gold was the first of three for Great Britain’s women at Lagoa, and KL2 glory followed for Emma Wiggs, who 18 years ago was shearing sheep on her gap year in Australia when she contracted a virus that initially paralysed her and left her with irreparable damage to the nerves in her legs.
After two golds and two bronze medals – for Ian Marsden in the KL1 and Nick Beighton in KL2 – Dickins knew she had to deliver in the women’s KL3. And she did as Britain’s golden girls shone in Rio.
Only Rob Oliver missed out, finishing fifth in the KL3 final.
A chance meeting with canoeing coach Colin Radmore during the London 2012 Olympics, where they were both Games Makers – the volunteers who helped to facilitate all aspects of the Olympics – began the journey for Dickins.
“When I arrived here on the first day [in Rio] I felt like I was in Games- Maker mode – I wanted to show people to their seats and stuff,” said the 49-year-old, a mum of two.
“I took part because I didn’t think I could do sport any more.
“And suddenly I’m just catapulted straight back into the thick end of elite sport and I’m standing here now as Paralympic champion.”
Dickins, formerly an endurance mountain biker, was left with a weak right leg and unable to cycle after a freak back injury in 2011.
“There were so many reasons in my self-belief mechanism that made it impossible. I had sea sickness, I’d never been in a boat. I was too old. I did endurance sport. I was a working mum.
“But something about the magic of the Olympics and the Paralympics made me want to have a go. And made me think that the impossible can come true.”
She is twice a world champion, having first stepped into a kayak in 2012, and had rarely stepped into a boat before after developing a phobia on holiday aged two.
She had three months of treatment for motion sicknes. But she still wears bespoke sunglasses when out on the water in her kayak.
“It’s the same treatment they give fighter pilots,” she said
“I spent three months feeling completely wretched, absolutely nauseous.”
And now she is Paralympic champion. So is Chippington, who won two golds at Atlanta 1996 and 10 more medals across five Games as a swimmer from 1988.
Another mum of two, Chippington is a former swimming teammate of Dame Sarah Storey, the 13-time Paralympic champion.
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