After first discovering wheelchair racing in 2010, working alongside her coach, Mel began training. 15 months later, her hard work paid off when she was selected to represent Great Britain and compete in the London 2012 Paralympics games. Following the games, Mel’s first major international competition, Mel was selected onto the GB Athletics Team.

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Mel went on to represent Great Britain on track at European and World championships. Competing in sprint distances at London 2012, an event change in 2014 for her classification of T34 (neurological impairments) brought championship medal success with a European silver medal in 800m and to her surprise, European bronze in 100m in 2014. In 2013 Mel broke the 1500m World Record while racing in Grosseto, Italy, a record that had stood for more than ten years, she later broke the same record twice more in 2014 and remained WR holder until she moved away from track racing in 2016. Mel’s greatest achievement on track remains winning world silver at the World Para Athletics Championships in Doha in 2015 in her preferred Paralympic distance of 800m. In 2016, Mel received her call up for her second Paralympic games as part of the GB Athletics team in Rio de Janeiro. Here, illness and heartbreak struck, preventing Mel from achieving her full potential, but once again becoming a Paralympic finalist.

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Mel’s love of road racing lead her to switch from the shorter distances on track to marathon and endurance road racing at the end of 2016. A decision made earlier that year that would see a new sporting chapter open after the Rio games. Unable to represent Great Britain in wheelchair marathons as currently there is no class for her classification, Mel races amongst the best and fastest female wheelchair racers in the world, showing her endurance strengths within Britain and worldwide, since making her debut on the world elite marathon circuit. Mel broke her 2 hour barrier at London marathon in 2017 and has continued to lower the mark in 2018.

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Since before her strokes, Mel was a keen cyclist. Taking up handcycling, originally as part of an injury rehabilitation programme and for cross training while on the Athletics squad was something Mel enjoyed. With Mel’s passion and talent for endurance, this was a sport she had plans to explore further when the time was right. In December 2016, Mel began working with a cycling performance coach with British Cycling, her first goal being the GB squad. In May 2017, Mel gained selection onto the GB Paracycling team on the Paralympic programme for road racing. Mel’s handcycling disciplines are Time Trial and Road Race. In her first year of paracycling, Mel achieved medal success on a world stage and National Champion jersey stripes. Mel’s performance continues to improve as she cements herself in the world rankings into her second season within the sport.

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