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51-year-old table tennis player Cathy Mitton will be competing in her third Paralympics, having won bronze medals at the 2000 and 2004 games.

Although she would love to win gold, she expects the competition to be tough this time round.

“It’s getting harder each time; the opposition are getting stronger. You have to play well every single day that you play. But I’ve been training hard and I’m hoping just to keep it up.�

Mitton only got into the sport 20 years ago through the encouragement of her friends and husband.

“When I was younger I was too busy doing other things, having a job and doing all the things other people do.�

But she added; “I started to try different things out, wasn’t very good at a lot of them, but table tennis was the thing that I could actually compete in. So I took it up and have gone on from there.â€�ÌýÌýÌý

And having been confined to a wheelchair from the age of two, she admits that gaining access to sport has been difficult.Ìý A particular barrier has been the attitude of coaches.

ÌýShe said; “I’ve approached people and asked, 'Will you coach me?' and they’ve said, 'No, we can’t coach somebody in a wheelchair because we don’t know what to do.'â€�

“You didn’t feel that people wanted you to play and so you didn’t feel encouraged (to play sport).�

Even now, Mitton is forced to travel from her Rufforth home to Leeds to receive specialist training.

“I’ve got one coach who lives in Manchester and one who lives in Sheffield, so we looked at somewhere that was halfway between so that we were doing the same amount of travelling.�

She explains; “I’ve made enquiries in York, but I haven’t found anyone who could actually coach me in York.ÌýThat’s been one of the reasons why I’ve had to travel further afield to find people who were capable of coaching me and would be able to improve my game.â€�ÌýÌý

On being asked what changes she would like to see in the sport, Cathy said, “Just an improvement in people seeing table tennis and wanting to participate in it.Ìý

“I’d just encourage anyone who sees a bat and a ball to go and have a go!�

The wheelchair table tennis event takes place from 7th to 16th September.ÌýÌýÌý

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