Episode 4: Libby Clegg MBE

Broadcast date: 21 October 2021

Libby Clegg loved dance and ballet when she was little, but became a multi-medal-winning Paralympic athlete. She won five medals games, capping her amazing career in Tokyo with a silver medal for Team GB in the 100m relay – and then announced she was retiring from the track. Last year she returned to dance in the tv competition Dancing on Ice, reaching the final. Libby, who has Stargardt macular dystrophy, is also candid about struggles with her mental health, even at what should have been her greatest moment of triumph – winning two gold medals at the Rio games.

Content warning: our conversation will discuss mental health and some of the darker moments of Libby’s journey.

Libby Clegg standing in Team GB uniform, looking up in front of purple backgroundLibby Clegg

Libby Clegg MBE was a keen ballet dancer as a child before taking up athletics, specialising in sprinting. In 2008 she made her Paralympic debut in Beijing winning a silver medal in the T12 100m, and won another silver medal in London 2012. She struck gold at Rio in 2016, winning both the T11 100m and T11 200m finals. She announced her retirement at the Tokyo Paralympics where she won a relay silver. She appeared in Dancing on Ice in 2020 and wrote My Life with Hatti¸ a book about her guide dog.

Libby’s book, My Life With Hatti.

The RNIB’s See Sport Differently campaign.

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