Ali Smith flying flag for Northwich at Tokyo Paralympics

She has been named among the 44 athletes who will be flying the flag for the ParalympicsGB team when the Games start on August 24.

Smith, who was a student at the school from reception through to leaving sixth form in 2007, competes in the 100m and 400m as a para athlete.

The former national-level showjumper started running at a competitive level in 2016 after being diagnosed with MS and losing the ability to walk.

Smith was advised that exercise would help with her mobility in the future and having got to a good level of athletics at school it seemed like the natural sport for her to train in.

The training certainly paid off as she went on to win silver in the 400m at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin, was ranked fourth at the 2019 Dubai World Championships and most recently won bronze in the 400m at the 2021 European Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Smith said: “I always had aspirations to go into showjumping and for a few years after school I competed at national level which was really fun but was very expensive to maintain.

"Before athletics I trained and worked as an accountant and I also own a bicycle shop which I still work at.

“My health and future are why I started this journey in athletics and this is still my biggest motivation.”

Para athletics head coach at UK Athletics, Paula Dunn, said: “We have selected an incredibly strong squad of athletes who have excelled at past Games, to those who have progressed significantly during the last cycle, to a number of Futures Academy athletes who have stepped up in recent times to put themselves in contention.

“It is a testament to all the hard work from the athletes, coaches and their support networks, their family and friends. We will be supporting everyone on the team so they will be in the best position to achieve their goals in Japan.”

You can catch Smith competing in the T38 100m, 400m and 4x100m universal relay. Para athletics coverage starts on Friday, August 27.