In a Sky Sports exclusive interview, Team GB's Sammi Kinghorn discusses the moment that changed her life and set her on a new course towards the Paralympics
Saturday 28 March 2020 10:11, UK
Often adversity can lead to a new path that would not have otherwise existed - and while everyone is adapting to a new reality, the story of Paralympic wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn is one that can give hope to us all.
Ten years ago, Kinghorn was a teenager playing on her family's farm in Scotland when her life changed forever.
"I had an accident when I was 14," she told Sky Sports News. "I was crushed by a forklift on the farm where I was brought up.
"My whole life completely flipped upside down."
Kinghorn was paralysed from the waist down. Her father had been using the forklift to clear snow from the ground, but had no idea his daughter was there.
She spent the next six months in a Glasgow hospital, a three-hour round trip from her parents' farm.
"My mum spent the first few weeks in hospital with me and had to quit her job," she said.
"I felt so bad that everyone else was having to deal with it as well. I don't think people sometimes realise that. You see the person in the wheelchair and you think about everything they've gone through - but you forget everything your family have to deal with."
A decade later, she became the fastest-ever female British wheelchair racer over 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m - something that might not have happened if she hadn't been introduced to sport by her hospital.
Kinghorn, who was not sporty prior to the accident, was encouraged to take part in the Inter-Spinal Unit Games. It's an annual competition for hospital patients who are rehabilitating after being paralysed and gives them the chance to try out a variety of wheelchair sports.
For her, it meant a chance meeting with the husband of one of Great Britain's most successful wheelchair racers and that ignited her interest.
"The games are about meeting people that have gone through the same thing as you. I tried everything that weekend - and then I tried wheelchair racing," she explained.
"Finding a sport that was adaptable for me to go fast and it looked cool - that's what drove me to start with.
"Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson's husband was there and I remember him saying that I was really good at it.
"At 14 years old, for someone to say that to me after something so traumatic was a really good feeling. So I came home from that and said to mum and dad, 'I know what I'm going to do, don't worry about me'."
Everything was always leading up to Tokyo, where I would really shine and win major medals. I'm excited to see what will come.
But wheelchair racing is an expensive pastime. At the last Paralympics in Rio, two American athletes had chairs made by BMW that cost around £20,000. So Kinghorn's family set about raising money and she started competing a year later.
"My first race was the London Mini Marathon, just three weeks after my racing chair arrived. It was really overwhelming and that's where I realised just how elite the sport is.
"I got a buzz out of winning races but I didn't realise it could be my career until 2013, when I qualified for the Commonwealth Games. That really shocked me because I didn't see it coming," she added.
The Games were in Glasgow, where she had spent her rehabilitation following the accident. Kinghorn took part in the T54 1500m and placed fifth in the final. But her focus was on getting to the Paralympics in 2016.
"I said to my coach, 'I want to go to Rio'. He was like, 'it's not that far away, I don't know if you'll make it.'"
Of course, she made it - but it wasn't an enjoyable experience.
"I was sick before every race, I couldn't sleep - I'd never experienced anything like that before. I was so scared and so nervous.
"Obviously the Paralympics are the pinnacle, the highest level you can race at and I think it only impacted me when I got to that stadium. I suddenly felt pressure I'd never felt before."
Kinghorn placed fifth and sixth in the 100m and 400m T53 events, but was disqualified in the 400m. It was the reality check that Kinghorn needed.
"I really knuckled down after Rio," she said.
The following year at the World Para Athletics in London, she won two gold medals and once again her focus remains the Paralympics.
Now that it was been confirmed that the Games have been postponed until next year, Kinghorn - who trains twice a day, six days a week - will have to keep that focus a little longer.
"Tokyo has been our main aim since the day I started. Everything was always leading up to Tokyo, where I would really shine and win major medals. I'm excited to see what will come."
