Last week we welcomed Anna Grimaldi to our school to tell us what it is like to be a Paralympian and win 2 gold medals.

Anna told us about how she felt being born without one hand and that she felt different from all her schoolmates. She played lots of sports but it wasn’t until high school that she got into athletics. Anna competes in the long jump and in the 100m and 200m sprints.

When she was 19 she went to the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro and was amazed that she won the gold medal in the long jump. We watched the youtube clip when she found out that she had won. She was so excited and she jumped up and down and cried!

In 2021 she went to the Tokyo Paralympics and won the gold medal again! This time was really strange as no spectators could come and watch because of Covid 19. She said she felt more pressure because she was the defending champion and she was really nervous.

We all got to hold her gold medal and we were surprised how heavy it was. We are looking forward to cheering her on again in Paris where she is competing in the long jump, 100m and 200m.