Tanni's winning mentality

Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson has never let disability get in her way. Now a baroness, she speaks to Sarah Brealey about her fighting spirit in sport and politics.

Read Tanni's fast facts and health tips

For most athletes, getting just one Olympic medal is the greatest achievement imaginable. So it is testimony to the talent, determination and competitive spirit of Tanni Grey-Thompson that she has no fewer than 16 Paralympic medals – 11 of them gold – adorning her mantelpiece.

Tanni, 43, was born with spina bifida, which causes problems with the spine, but her parents encouraged her to lead as normal a life as possible, despite her wheelchair. The lack of adaptations back then meant she had to be fit and overcome plenty of obstacles.

It was during her teenage years that she discovered wheelchair racing and she’s never looked back, even though she used to get so nervous she would be sick before every race.

Now a baroness, Tanni works as a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords and is passionate about issues including welfare reform, legal aid and disability rights.

You’ve been involved in organising the Olympics and Paralympics – how do you feel about the greatest show on earth?

I think the Olympics are great for London and the UK as a whole. What’s impressive is the legacy – the regeneration in London, the social housing that will be provided after the Games.

Each Paralympics has been better than the one before. Beijing was great, and I think London is another step ahead because it cares about the Paralympics, it cares about making a difference. There is a single organising committee and one person in charge of sport for both Games, which really helps.

When the Games are on, it is highly positive for disabled sport and disabled people. But there is a lot more to do to make sure disabled people are fully integrated into society, not just in sport, but in schools and jobs.

My parents brought me up to believe that if someone had a problem with me being in a wheelchair, it was their problem, not mine

What was it like growing up with a disability?

I had a very supportive family, so it wasn’t a big deal. I became paralysed at seven. My parents brought me up to believe that if someone had a problem with me being in a wheelchair, it was their problem, not mine. As I got older, I realised that some people did discriminate against me, but I just got on with it.

Do you see yourself as a role model for disabled people?

It’s not something I think about in that way. As an athlete I had one platform, and now I’m in the Lords, I have a different type of platform. I do feel a responsibility to make things better and highlight the issues, for example around physical activity for girls. About 80 per cent of women don’t do enough exercise to be healthy, and that really worries me.

I think it’s partly because if people have a bad experience of PE in school, it can put them off for years, and also because women put their families before everything they do.

What’s it like combining family life with a career that involves living away from home during the week?

It’s tricky. I go to London late on Sunday night or early on Monday morning, and I travel home to Eaglescliffe in County Durham on Thursday nights, but if the Lords is sitting into the evening, it can be 2am when I get home. I try very hard to protect my weekends so I can be with my daughter Carys, who’s ten, but it’s not an easy balance. I work long hours in the week so I don’t have to work at the weekend, but I don’t always manage it, and it can be hard to get enough sleep.

My husband [Ian Thompson, whom she met in the national wheelchair racing squad] supports me, which makes a huge difference, and my daughter understands what I do.

Which part of your career have you found most fulfilling?

Probably being in the Lords. I love it, I feel privileged to be here. My athletics career was the stepping stone to this. So much that I learned from sport has been transferable: for example, you win some, and you lose some. There are long hours, and if I had a pound for every time someone said: ‘Why don’t you get a proper job?’ I would be quite rich, but I love it.

The people here are lovely: you can have completely opposing views to someone inside the chamber but outside have a cup of tea with them. It transcends your political views and that is one of the huge strengths of the Lords.

I suppose I’d like to be recognised as someone who tried to change things for the better

What do you feel is the most important thing in your life?

My family – I love them to bits. They are so important to me: without them I wouldn’t do the things I do, although I’m sure I annoy them dreadfully at times.

How would you like to be recognised?

For a good chunk of my life it would have been as a good athlete. Now it would be as a good athlete and someone who made a change in politics – although I don’t see myself as a politician, and I’ve never been a member of a political party. I suppose I’d like to be recognised as someone who tried to change things for the better.

Read Tanni's fast facts and health tips

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