Para cyclist and track sprinter Kadeena Cox is already a history-making Paralympian, and this summer she aims to defend her individual and team titles in the velodrome in Paris.

A promising sprinter, Cox’s sporting future was altered when she suffered a stroke in 2014. After returning to apparent full fitness, further problems followed, before the Leeds-born athlete was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in September of that year.

She turned her attention to Paralympic sport, targeting a place at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. After being classified as a T37 athlete and a C2 cyclist, she earned her first global title on the athletics track, winning the T37 100m at the 2015 world championships.

Being eclassified from a C2 to a C4, Cox won the 500m time-trial at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in 2016.

This double glory fueled hopes that she could become the first British Paralympian since 1988 – three years before she was born – to medal in two sports at the same Games.

She duly did so, winning gold in both athletics and cycling, setting a new world record time on the way to 500m victory in the velodrome. Her achievements led to her being selected to carry the flag at the closing ceremony.

Cox suffered a knee injury – which kept her out of both sports for a significant period – in December 2017, and despite admitting that the problem still had to be managed, Cox returned to the velodrome to reclaim her C4 500m world title in Apeldoorn in 2019.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupting the cycling calendar in 2020, Cox still managed to make an impressive return in February at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Milton, Canada.

Cox not only finished second to home rider Kate O’Brien in the 500m TT, but also helped a British squad of Jaco van Gass, Jody Cundy and Jon-Allan Butterworth to another silver, behind China, in the mixed team sprint.

As she prepared for Tokyo, Cox took to the road in 2021, finishing fifth in the individual time-trial at a round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Ostend, Belgium. It proved to be excellent preparation, as Cox headed to Tokyo in strong form and successfully defended her 500m time-trial title. She also competed in the T38 400m after a late call-up to the athletics squad, finishing fourth in the event.

She took some time away from her sporting activities later in 2021, winning the BBC show Celebrity Masterchef, and appearing on ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of Here!’ to further extend an already highly successful career in television.

At the home Para-cycling track world championships in Glasgow in 2023, Cox defended her 500m time-trial title and took silver in the mixed team sprint behind China.

So far in 2024, as she prepares to take on her third Paralympics in Paris, Cox has maintained her dominance in the 500m time-trial, winning her third consecutive world title in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in March. She claimed another silver in the team sprint, alongside Cundy, van Gass and Blaine Hunt.