DOUBLE-MEDALLIST Maria Lyle has thanked her friends and family for their support after a challenging year.

The sprinter recently returned from the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris with bronze medals in both the T35 100m and 200m events. The success came after an operation on her foot following the Tokyo Paralympics in September 2021.

She told Courier Sport she had been running “quite good times” before the surgery.

However, she was glad of the support of family, friends, her coaching team and fellow athletes for getting her back on track after the operation, with attention turning to next year’s Paralympic Games in the French capital.

READ MORE: Maria Lyle: Bronze at World Para Athletics Championships

She said: “I was not really running the quickest of times this season and that is why I was not feeling the most confident, if I am honest.

“I just really relied on those around me – friends, family, people in the team – to believe in me when I was not feeling the best and to get me across the line.

“It has been a tough nearly two years. If I am honest, I am glad it is done and can get on with next year and hopefully get a good winter in and be in a better position for next season and coming into the Paralympics.

“It is really important having good people around you.

 

 

“For example, my friends at home who are not athletes but I have really just got a lot closer with them.

“It is really nice and they have helped me, distracted me from the pressures but believing in me.

“They are outside of running and when they watch me they think it is great. It is nice speaking to people who are not involved in it and having other conversations; having more of a balance.”

The former Dunbar Grammar School pupil first competed at the World Para Athletics Championships in Doha in 2015 when she was just 15 years old.

Since then, she has competed in three further World Para Athletics Championships and at two Paralympic Games, collecting more than half a dozen medals along the way.

On Sunday, she was back on the track, competing at the London Stadium, which hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

 

 

Lyle, who has spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, was delighted to be part of the Diamond League event. She said: “There were quite a few para events just before the Diamond League, which was an amazing experience.

“I did not really think of it as racing and did not realise the big scale until I went out onto the track and was setting up the blocks.

“I know people were saying there were 40,000 tickets sold.

“We don’t always get crowds and most of the time are racing in front of empty crowds with nobody in the stands.

“That was probably the biggest crowd I have ever raced in front of.”

The 23-year-old also highlighted the importance of giving para athletes the opportunity to race in front of larger crowds and in big venues.

The London Stadium, which is now home to West Ham United FC, has a capacity of more than 60,000 making it one of the top 10 capacity stadiums in the UK.

Lyle, of Dunbar, said: “It is important having the opportunity for us to compete alongside the Diamond League.

“It gets exposure for para sports to more of an audience that was maybe not aware and we can highlight how good para sport is and hopefully get more fans and more people into the sport.”