First
British Paralympic medallist who won four golds and two silvers across five Games
There was a time when Margaret Maughan, who has died aged 91, would have bristled at any suggestion she might be sporty. “I was just no good at it,” she said. Little did she ever expect that a car accident which left her paralysed from the waist down in her early 30s might unlock a broad range of athletic talents and see her carve a place in history as the UK’s first Paralympic gold medallist.
Maughan won archery and swimming gold medals at the Rome Paralympic Games in 1960, and although she missed the next games in 1964, she took part in four more up to 1980, winning two more golds along the way. In 2012, at the age of 84 and in recognition of her achievements, she was given the honour of lighting the cauldron at the Olympic Stadium in
London during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics.