15 Facts About Shelly Woods

Rochelle "Shelly" Woods was born on 4 June 1986 and is an elite British Paralympic athlete from the suburb of Layton in Blackpool, Lancashire.

Shelly Woods has competed in two Paralympic Games, Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, where she won three medals.

Shelly Woods is a world-class marathon athlete, winning the women's elite wheelchair race at the 2007 and 2012 London Marathon.

At the age of 11 Shelly Woods fell 20 feet from a tree, resulting in a permanent injury to her spinal cord at the T12-L1 vertebra and requiring her to use a wheelchair.

Shelly Woods had always been a keen sportsperson, and after her injury she continued to be active in sports, including wheelchair basketball and swimming.

Shelly Woods eventually decided to commit to athletics, stating in a 2011 interview that she made her choice to focus on racing, "because it was hardest".

Shelly Woods was first identified as a potential throwing athlete, but switched to racing under the advice of her first coach, Andrew Gill.

Shelly Woods eventually teamed up with specialist wheelchair coach, Andrew Dawes.

In 2004 Shelly Woods set the women's course record for the Reading Half Marathon, set at 66 minutes 37 seconds.

Shelly Woods is the national record holder over 5,000 metres and won silver medals in her very first London Marathon in 2005 and again in 2006.

On 22 April 2007, Shelly Woods won the London Marathon Women's wheelchair race for the first time in a record time of 1:50:40.

Shelly Woods later won a silver medal in the 1500m, finishing very strongly to beat Switzerland's Edith Hunkeler at the line, and came fourth in the marathon.

Shelly Woods represented Team GB at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London where she won a silver medal in the women's marathon.

Shelly Woods came 6th in the 1500m, 8th in the 5000m and came 3rd in the heats of the 800m but failed to qualify for the final.

Shelly Woods competed in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and finished sixth in the 1500m before going on to three fifth places finishes at the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea.