‘An Olympian for the town to be proud of’
TRIBUTE AS LIBBY BOWS OUT WITH A SILVER TO ADD TO MEDAL HAUL
A Paralympic champion from Loughborough said she was delighted to bag a silver medal in her final contest at the Tokyo Games before retiring from professional sport.
Libby Clegg and her team won the medal in the first 4x100m universal relay, with the United States winning gold while hosts Japan finished in third place.
The 31-year-old, who is mostly blind, completed the first part of the relay before handing over to amputee, Jonnie Peacock.
Libby has battled through several injuries in her training for the games in Japan, making her medal especially sweet.
She said: “We hadn’t done much training together. We hadn’t had much practice of the changeover.
“To get a medal was a shock. With it being my last event, it was a nice way to say goodbye.”
Libby won gold in the 100m and the 200m at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, as well as silver in the 100m at London 2012 and at Beijing 2008.
She has lived in Loughborough since 2009 and said the town is ideal for her and her guide dog, Hatti, as the area is mostly flat.
In 2017 she received an MBE from the Duke of Cambridge at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
She had her first child, Edward, in 2019 and appeared on Dancing on Ice in 2020, reaching the final of the TV competition with dance partner Mark Hanretty, finishing third.
Charnwood borough councillor Ted Parton, who lives near Libby, said: “With the award of a silver medal in the 100-metre relay at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, a magnificent athletic career comes to a glorious end.
“Libby has given the town of Loughborough an Olympian to be proud of.
“With the university’s and town’s stellar reputation for producing formidable athletes, Libby’s huge career medal haul is made all the more remarkable owing to her severe sight loss.
“Libby always raced with a real positivity, remaining humble and seeking to improve.
“In the next stages of her career, she will continue to pass on the wealth of experience she has amassed, inspiring future generations that suffer from disabilities to achieve in their lives.”
Libby is a member of Charnwood Athletic Club and she said in the future she is interested in taking up cycling.
Her blindness is caused by Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, a retinal disease, and she is set to take part in a clinical trial for a potential treatment.