Tanni Grey-Thompson

“The reality for most athletes is that they have to deal with the wrath of the media only after they have performed, not in the final weeks of preparation when they may be at their most vulnerable.”

“I'd have a competition over anything. Absolutely anything, I didn't care what it was. I think that's why my parents decided that sport was quite a good thing for me to do, because it calmed me down and gave me something to channel that competitive spirit into.”

“If sport had not been possible, I would have studied to be a lawyer.”

“I've had many challenges in life and sport but going into the House of Lords is probably the greatest ever.”

“My husband Ian and I decided to try for a baby after the Sydney Paralympics, and I got pregnant quite quickly. But I hated every minute of being pregnant.”

“I first competed for Great Britain in wheelchair racing in 1987 and for twenty years after that. For me, the passion came from the fact that I really loved competing and training to be better. And of course - like most sportspeople - I really wanted to win.”

“People come up to me and say 'I wouldn't want to live if I was like you.' And I say 'Actually, my life's pretty good.'”

“As a disabled person I have to think and plan far more than anyone else. If I want to catch a bus I have to consider whether the ramp works, whether there will be someone in the one space who doesn't want to move. It can be a constant worry.”

“What the country, what the media wants to see is medals.”

“My parents felt physical activity was massively important for me to be able to have an independent life - I needed to be strong enough to climb up a flight of stairs by myself, they insisted, and they were right.”

“In 1992, when I came back from the Barcelona Paralympics with four gold medals from track racing, the Lord Lieutenant of Cardiff said to my father: 'She'll be in the House of Lords one day, you know.' Strange how things work out really.”

“Perhaps we need to redefine our idea of role models; they're not always elite athletes whose success might seem too distant or unachievable. Sometimes it's our friend who just smashed her first 10k, or our Zumba teacher who is enthusiastic, encouraging and real.”

“Carpets are the bane of a wheelchair user's life. One minute you are happily moving in a certain direction; the next, the weave throws you out.”

“I'm fairly frequently told 'It must be horrible being like you.'”

“As a wheelchair user and a frequent traveller, of course I have my own collection of horror stories.”

“I had Carys by Caesarean for medical reasons. I've got narrow hips and I'm a bit twisted.”

“I like being the best I can be at everything.”

“My passions are sport, women in sport and disabled people, and they kind of end up not being political, so I can put a bit of a different spin on it.”

“I've always regarded self-pity as a wasted emotion.”

“I am affected by my own personal experience.”