13-Year-Old Iona Winnifrith Claims Silver in Paralympic Debut for Team GB

British swimmer Iona Winnifrith, just 13 years old, made a remarkable debut at the Paralympics by winning a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke event in Paris.

Winnifrith, the youngest athlete on the current Paralympics GB squad, just achieved a lifetime best performance by finishing second in the women’s SB7 race with 1:29.69 at the La Defense Arena.

The gold was won by neutral athlete Mariia Pavlova, who also set a new world record, while Canadian Tess Routliffe secured the bronze. Despite her young age, Winnifrith, who has skeletal dysplasia, is already a double European Champion and was thrilled with her first Paralympic medal.

“I’m thrilled with that performance, and getting a silver medal at 13 is cool,” said Winnifrith. She explained that her strategy was to stay competitive throughout the race and push hard in the final stretch. “As much as I wanted that gold, I just knew I had to fight for it, and that’s what I did. I’m proud.”

Winnifrith grew up idolising five-time Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds. She was five months younger than Simmonds when she won her first title at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

Winnifrith will have another opportunity to add to her medal count in the 50m event, scheduled for Saturday.

While Winnifrith is Britain’s youngest Paralympian at these Games, she has not yet broken the record for the youngest-ever British Paralympic medallist, which remains with Joanne Rout, who won two gold and three silver medals at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics at the age of 12.

In other British successes, 14-year-old Bly Twomey won her second Para-table tennis medal of the Games, taking bronze in the women’s WS7 singles. Team GB currently sits second in the overall medal standings, behind China.