Sabrina Fortune PROFILE

Before Monday’s World Para Athletics Championship F20 shot put final, Sabrina Fortune said she was “determined to smash” her existing world record, reports Owen Morgan.

At last year’s Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships, Sabrina Fortune outlined her ambitions for the coming year. With both the Para Athletics World Championships in May and the Paris Paralympics in September circled on her 2024 calendar, there was plenty to aim for.

Welsh athletes hope the Prime Minister will heed their emphatic call to ensure disabled children have equal access to sport. As the triumphant Great Britain team returned home from Paris with 124 medals – 49 gold, 44 silver and 31 bronze, including 22 medals for Welsh athletes – ParalympicsGB posted an open letter to Sir Keir Starmer, urging him to “act now” and establish a “clear plan from across Government with concrete steps for change”.

Aled Davies has admitted he is finding it hard to offer an explanation for his failure to win a fourth Paralympic gold medal. Wales’ greatest current Paralympian was unable to follow up his titles of the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games and had to settle for shot put silver in Paris on a final weekend where Laura Sugar took gold in para canoeing and Phil Pratt earned a silver in wheelchair basketball.

Welsh athletes celebrated an incredible four gold medals on Sunday – one third of an historic 12 golds won by Great Britain at the Paralympic Games in Paris. Shot put thrower Sabrina Fortune, swimmer Rhys Darbey, rower Ben Pritchard and cyclist James Ball all topped the podium as ParalympicsGB celebrated a dozen golds across all sports on a super Sunday – the most in a single day this century.

Creative director Thomas Jolly has some lofty goals for Wednesday’s opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, when the heart of Paris will once again become the stage for a stunning artistic display. The outdoor ceremony at the Champs-Elysees and Place de La Concorde — a site where several members of the royal family were beheaded during the French Revolution — is aiming to challenge and reshape society’s perceptions of disabilities.

Aled Davies will head the Welsh contingent heading for Paris and the start of the Paralympic Games in Paris next week. The shot and discus thrower will compete at his fourth Paralympics for Great Britain and defend his F42 shot put title he won in Tokyo three years ago.

Sabrina Fortune has shattered her own F20 shot put world record ahead of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. The 27-year-old from Deeside achieved a remarkable throw of 14.83m during a senior meeting at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on Sunday.

Aled Davies is looking for more Games glory after being named as one of four Welsh Para athletes in Britain’s team for Paris 2024.

Sabrina Fortune broke the women’s F20 shot put world record twice as she powered to a third successive gold medal at the World Paralympic Champs in Kobe.

Piers Copeland produced the most spectacular finish of the day to snatch a brilliant gold medal in the 1500m at the Microplus UK Athletics Indoor Championships on Sunday. The Pontypridd Roadents AC man was tucked in behind Callum Elson, of Cambridge and Coleridge AC, and Adam Fogg, of Coventry Godiva AC, for the majority of the race.

Sabrina Fortune has designs on making 2024 a year to remember inside and outside the shot put circle. One of the world’s best F20 throwers, Fortune has her sights on success at the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe this May and the Paris Paralympics in August.