Ellie Challis wins Paralympic backstroke gold at Paris 2024

By Megan Armitage

Ellie Challis upgraded her Tokyo 2020 silver medal in style with 50m backstroke gold in Paris.

Challis, 20, became ParalympicsGB's youngest medallist in Tokyo with silver in the S3 event but didn't see any challenge in Paris as she sprinted to victory.

Her time of 53.56 was almost five seconds quicker than silver medallist and Neutral Paralympic Athlete Zoia Shchurova.

It was also a new personal best and British record for the swimmer who admitted she knew she had it in her all along.

“Honestly that’s such a dream come true," said Challis, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

"I really tried not to get ahead of myself going into the event - I was four seconds ahead coming into it but I know a race is a race and it’s not over until you touch the end of the pool.

“I was very confident that I could do better than this morning and a PB was all I could ask for whether that got me first, second or third then that’s what it was. But wow that was a good swim.

"This is the goal of everyone in elite sport and to accomplish it at 20, I couldn’t put it into words really."

Challis first took up swimming as a young child after having lost all four limbs to meningitis B at 16 months old.

It was when watching the film 'Winter's Tale', which tells the true story of a dolphin with a amputated tail re-learn how to swim, that Challis saw what could be possible for herself.

It was an inspiring message which she now carries with her as she tries to inspire a new generation to take up swimming.

"We watched a film one day about Winter the dolphin and I was like oh this dolphin is just like me, it’s a really cool story.

"And at the end it tells you it’s a true story and it’s such an unbelievable moment to be like 'oh this animal is doing what I want to do'.

"She’s passed away now but with the film she’s still inspiring people day in and day out and it’s made a huge difference in my swimming career and inspired me and maybe I'm inspiring others now."

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