A PARALYMPIAN from Flintshire has won gold in Paris following a 'couple of bad years'.

Sabrina Fortune produced the second-best performance of her career to retain her World Para Athletics Championship shot put title in Paris – and she believes it can be the springboard to bigger and better things.

As a child, Sabrina was diagnosed with speech dyspraxia, a condition that affects a person’s fine motor skills. It makes verbal communication difficult and, in Sabrina’s case, it also made her prone to tripping over.

But throughout her life, she has overcome every obstacle which stood in her way to become the number one ranked shot put Paralympian in the world in category F20 throwing events.

Sabrina won her first world title in the women’s F20 shot put four years ago in Dubai and surpassed that achievement in the French capital as threw a huge Championship record of 14.01m for back-to-back golds, a mark she has only bettered once.

The 26-year-old’s personal best sits at 14.05m and while admitting breaking that can wait for another time as she revels in her success, her confidence to do so just over a year out from the Paris Paralympic Games is higher than ever.

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Sabrina finished fifth at the last Paralympics in Tokyo in 2021 and she said: “I can’t put into words how happy I truly am right now. It’s not a personal best but you know what, having that title back is the biggest thing.

“I’ve had a couple of bad years when I felt my sport wasn’t going well and this just proves that no matter how hard you fall you can still stand back up tall. I have to truly trust that I can do it now.

“I know I can hit so much further. I know I can hit the world record. I’ve just hit 14m which is a barrier I’ve been trying to hit for months and months, so the Paralympics in 2024, what’s to come? Well, I want to find out; hopefully it will be something good.”

Sabrina benefits from the National Lottery funding as a member of the UK Athletics World Class Programme, providing a comprehensive package including sports science, medical care, and access to world-class facilities for our top track and field para-athletes.