Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: Kadeena Cox

Looking back on a Paralympics that was filled with personal highs and lows, Kadeena Cox has publicly declared that 'God's plan is always better'.

Cox had a difficult start to the Paralympics, slipping off her bike during the women’s C4-5 500m time trial and finishing sixth. Following her fall, she posted on social media saying: ‘You can't have a testimony without a test… It's not the plan I had, but God's plan is always better.’

A few days later, she won gold in the C1-5 750m team sprint and took to social media to talk about her ‘relief’ at leaving the Paralympics with a medal.

‘The last week has been rough!' she said. 'From crying because of struggles with my eating disorder, to the high of a good qualifying ride… then crashing out thanks to old MS and subsequently hiding from everyone for the next 48 hours - so the high of yesterday eve was a feeling I've never felt!

‘I'd been studying Mark in the bible in the lead up to racing and I'm so glad I was because it reminded me of Jesus's grace and mercy and how he turned things around and gave strength to the weak. Because Lord knows I needed a strength in wasn't going to find in me to get me on that start line.’

A competitive sprinter, Kadeena suffered a stroke in 2014 and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis shortly afterwards.

'It was the support of my family and my faith that got me through,' she said to the Yorkshire Evening Post. 'Realising there was purpose in the situation I was in kept me going.'

Cox has had a prolific career as a para-athlete since then, winning multiple titles. In Rio in 2016, she became the first British Paralympian to win golds in multiple sports at the same Games since 1984.

She won Celebrity Masterchef in 2021 and was awarded an OBE in 2022 for her services to athletics and cycling.