Maddie Down is taking her A Levels this summer, before heading to Glasgow to compete in the T38 category for athletes with cerebral palsy or coordination impairments.
Team England’s Maddie Down says she’s feeling more pressure from her college teachers than her athletics coaches ahead of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
The para-sprinter and long jumper is taking her A Levels this summer, before heading to Glasgow to compete in the T38 category for athletes with cerebral palsy or coordination impairments.
The 18-year-old, from Halesowen, won two gold medals at the Trinbago 2023 Youth Commonwealth Games and competed for Great Britain at the Paralympic Games in Paris a year later.
“Going out as a team was amazing but being able to go out and win two golds was extraordinary,” said Down, who trains at the University of Birmingham. “Earlier that year I had got a stress fracture in my back, so being able to come back from that and produce two golds was fantastic.
“I know I have done it before and was able to produce but it’s a completely different competition – it being a senior Games makes it a big challenge.”
But perhaps the bigger challenge for Down will be much closer to home.
She said: “I don’t really know how I’m balancing my studies and training, to be honest. I might not be for all I know. The pressure right now is from my teachers to do some work. It’s going alright, but I can’t wait for the exams to be done.
“I only need to focus on exams going into the next five weeks, whereas when I was doing my GCSEs, I had to focus on qualifying for Paris throughout them.”
The Paris Paralympic Games were Down’s first major senior competition, and she seized that opportunity with both hands.
She said: “It was great to be able to get a personal best at the Paralympic Games in two events and making two finals was a great learning experience.
“Then I had the World Championships last year – lots of lessons learnt from there, especially in the 100m. But being able to jump a PB and get over five metres really helped my confidence going into this season.”
Among Team England’s squad is 29-year-old Sophie Hahn, a two-time 100m Paralympic and seven-time world champion in the T38 category.
But the perennial champion was unseated by Down at this year’s British Indoor Championships, finally claiming the T36 60m crown after consecutive second-placed finishes.
Down said: “I’ve always looked up to Sophie ever since I started my athletics career. She is the best in our sport, so it’s great to be following in her footsteps and to compete against her is a great honour.
“We’ve competed together at the Paralympics before. It’s such a great environment, so it’s great to be competing with each other.
“Loads of my family are going to be able to come up. I’ve always enjoyed the cycling and netball, so I’m looking forward to that.”
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