Kadeena Cox (born 10 March 1991) is a parasport athlete competing in

T38 T38 or T-38 may refer to: Aviation * Allison T38, an American turboprop aircraft engine * Northrop T-38 Talon, an American jet trainer aircraft * Slingsby T.38 Grasshopper, a British training glider Other uses * T38 (classification), a disa ...

para-athletics sprint events and C4

para-cycling Para-cycling (or paracycling/para cycling) is the sport of cycling (sport), cycling adapted for cyclists who have various disability, disabilities. It is governed by the (UCI). The sport consists of seven different events which include Road bicy ...

and British television presenter. She was part of the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

and the 2016

UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships The UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships are the world championships for track cycling where athletes with a physical disability compete, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The Championships were earlier administered by ...

, in which she won world titles in the T37 100m and C4 500m time trial respectively. Competing for

Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed, under the name Great Britain, at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places for which the team qualified were for six athletes in sai ...

, in both athletics and cycling, she won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the Women's 100m T38 sprint, before winning a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the Women's C4-5 cycling time trial, and another gold in the T38 400m sprint, becoming the first British Paralympian to win golds in multiple sports at the same Games since Isabel Barr at the

1984 Summer Paralympics The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, commonly known as the 1984 Summer Paralympics, were the seventh Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes w ...

. In 2021 she appeared as a contestant on ITV's '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. In September 2021, Cox was the winner of the sixteenth series of BBC's ''

Celebrity MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a British competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2005 as ''MasterChef Goes Large' ...

''.

Early and personal life

Cox was born on 10 March 1991 in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England to Jamaican parents who had migrated to Britain. Her first school was Bracken Edge Primary in

Chapeltown, Leeds Chapeltown is a suburb of north-east Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Leeds City Council Ward of Chapel Allerton (ward), Chapel Allerton. It is approximately one mile north of Leeds city centre. Location and boundaries Cha ...

. She attended

Wetherby High School Wetherby High School (formerly Wetherby Secondary Modern School) is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school located in the Hallfield area of Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The school is run by the City of Leeds Local Educati ...

before going to

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

where she studied physiotherapy.

Sporting career

As an able bodied athlete

Cox began sprinting competitively at the age of 15 after her hockey coach suggested she try the sport. Over the next three years she competed at regional under-17 meets gaining several podium finishes in the 100m events. In 2007, she added the 60m and 200m to her repertoire, taking bronze in the U17 events at both the Manchester Open and the England Athletics Open Championships in the 60m that year. By 2009 Cox was competing throughout the athletics season, recording personal bests of 12.60s in the 100m and 25.58s in the 200m, both at the Yorkshire & Humberside County Championships. In 2012 Cox was entering national events and recorded a new personal best in the 200m in the BUCS Championships held at the

Olympic Park An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics ...

, a result which saw her take bronze. In 2013, she broke the 12 second barrier in the 100m for the first time, recording a time of 11.97 at the Northern Athletics Championships. She subsequently set a personal best of 11.93s for the 100m the same year. In addition to running, before her illness Cox was vying for a place on the British

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

team. On 18 May 2014, Cox entered the Loughborough International: two days later she was rushed to hospital after showing odd symptoms and was diagnosed as having a stroke. After two months of physiotherapy she recovered back to normal health and began training again. Then on 15 September 2014, she experienced burning sensations in her right arm, which over the following few days worsened to numbness in her arm and right leg and she was again taken to hospital with suspicions of a stroke. After extensive tests, she was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

As a parasport sprinter

Intent on making the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

in Rio, Cox was classified as both a T37 track and field athlete, to continuing her sprinting career, and a C2 track cyclist. A month later, Cox was selected for the Great Britain athletics team to compete at the

in Doha, where she entered the T37 100m and 200m sprints. In the heats leading up to the final of the 100m sprint, Cox posted a time of 13.59s to beat the world record set by France's

Mandy Francois-Elie Mandy or Mandie may refer to: People * Mandy (name), a female given name and nickname * Iván Mándy (1918–1995), Hungarian writer * Mark Mandy (born 1972), Irish retired high jumper * Philip Mandie (born 1942), a former judge on the Supreme ...

. Later that day she ran in the 100m T37 final, taking the gold medal in a time of 13:60, beating teammate Georgina Hermitage into second place. Her final event of the championship, the T37 200m sprint, ended in controversy after she missed registration by a minute and was disqualified from the race. In June 2016, after securing a place at the 2016 Summer Paralympics as a T37 athlete, Cox was reclassified as a T38 category athlete, a classification for less-disabled athletes. This threw her hopes to race at Rio into jeopardy as Britain already fielded two other athletes,

Sophie Hahn Sophie Megan Hahn (born 23 January 1997) is a parasport athlete from England competing mainly in T38 sprint events. In 2013, she qualified for the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, selected for the T38 100m and 200m. She took the gold in t ...

and Olivia Breen, who had posted faster times as T38 sprinters. Despite the classification change, Cox was selected for the Rio Paralympics in July 2016. At the Games she took a gold in the T38 400m, a silver in the T35-38 relay and a bronze in the T38 100m. She also set a new world record of 1:00.71 to take the gold medal in the T38 400m. Cox was subsequently selected as the flag-bearer for the British team at the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

. A late addition to the GB squad, Cox competed in the T38 400m at the delayed

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. She finished 4th with a time of 1:01.16, her season best.

As a para-cyclist

In September 2015, Cox entered the

British National Track Championships The British National Track Championships are a Track cycling event held annually and organised by the national governing body for track cycling (and other forms of cycling) in Great Britain, British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federat ...

where she took the gold medal in the C1-5 Mixed Gender Sprint Time Trial. In March 2016, Cox represented Great Britain at the

in Montichiari. Despite being reclassified as a C4 cyclist the day before the event, she still went on to win gold in the 500m time trial with a world record of 37.456s. On 1 August, Cox was named in the Great Britain team to compete at the Rio Paralympics with the potential to race in the 500m time trial (C4/C5) and the road race (C4/C5). Cox won gold in the 500m time trial in the 2016 Paralympics: her time of 34.598 seconds also set a new world record. At the delayed Tokyo Paralympics, Cox defended her time trial title, again winning gold in a world record time of 34.812 seconds. In 2024's Paralympics in Paris, France, Cox won gold with British team mates Jaco van Gass and

Jody Cundy Jody Alan Cundy (born 14 October 1978) is a British cyclist and former swimmer from Wisbech, England. He has represented Great Britain at eight Summer Paralympics winning nine Gold, one Silver and three Bronze medals across swimming and cycling ...

, in the C1-5 750m team sprint.

Awards and honours

Cox was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to athletics and

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to athletics and cycling. In March 2017, Cox was awarded the Sporting Equals Sportswoman of the Year at the

Lycamobile Lyca Mobile is a British mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) operating in 23 countries. It provides international pay-as-you-go SIM cards. The company is chaired by Subaskaran Allirajah. As an MVNO, Lyca Mobile does not own its own mobile ...

British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSAs) held at the

London Hilton on Park Lane The London Hilton on Park Lane is a hotel situated on Park Lane, overlooking Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, in the exclusive Mayfair district of London. It is tall, has 28 storeys and 453 rooms including 56 suites. History The hotel opened as th ...

. On 5 June 2022, Cox, riding a cycle alongside Sir

Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy (born 23 March 1976) is a former Track cycling, track cyclist and racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympics, Great Britain at the Olympic Games, Olympic and World Championships and Scot ...

, headed "The Time of Our Lives" section of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant.

Media appearances

She appeared on '' Celebrity Mastermind'' in December 2016, scoring just 3 points with her specialist subject

Arsenal F.C. The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. In domestic football, Arsenal h ...

, and no points at all in the general knowledge round. This is the lowest ever score. She won the second Celebrity '' Robot Wars 2016'' episode later that month with her collaboration with Ellis Ware (who drove Pulsar in the preceding regular series), with a robot called Kadeena Machina, a robot with a vertical disc, which won all four of its fights, the only robot to do so. In 2017, she took part in the British television winter sports show '' The Jump'', but had her funding suspended while on the show due to the number of injuries contestants sometimes have. In April 2018, Cox took part in ''

The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television Cooking show, baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of ...

'' on Channel 4 in aid of

Stand Up to Cancer Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a charitable organization that was established as a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). In 2022, SU2C was separately incorporated and was recognized by the IRS as a Section 501(c)(3) public charit ...

. In 2021, she appeared on ''

Celebrity Gogglebox ''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for the ...

'' with fellow athlete

Adam Gemili Adam Ahmed Gemili (born 6 October 1993) is a British sprinter. He is the 2014 European champion at 200 metres, three-time European champion in the 4 × 100 metres relay, and part of the Great Britain team that won gold at the 2017 World Cham ...

, and returned in 2024 with paralympic athlete

Lauren Steadman Lauren Steadman (born 18 December 1992) is a British Paralympic athlete who has competed in four Summer Paralympics, in both swimming and the paratriathlon. She competed at both the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Paralym ...

. In September 2021, Cox won the sixteenth series of BBC's ''

'', beating

Joe Swash Joseph Adam Swash (born ) is a British actor and television presenter from London, best known for his role of Mickey Miller in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' and various presenting roles with ITV2. He won the eighth series of '' I'm ...

and

Megan McKenna Megan Elizabeth McKenna (born 26 September 1992) is an English television personality and singer. After making appearances on ''Ex on the Beach'' (2015–2016), she received wider attention for appearing on ''Celebrity Big Brother (British TV s ...

. In November 2021, Cox was announced as a contestant on the twenty-first series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. She was second to be eliminated. Then in June 2022, Cox made a cameo appearance in an

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

of the BBC soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

''. On 7 January 2023, Cox appeared on stage in ''The Awakening'', the inaugural event for

LEEDS 2023 Leeds 2023, stylized as LEEDS 2023, was a designated year of culture taking place in Leeds, West Yorkshire, during 2023. Years of culture are specific years where a city or region dedicates significant resources to investing in cultural initiat ...

, a year-long cultural festival in the city. On 24 January 2025, she appeared on '' Would I Lie To You?''.

References

External links

Kadeena Cox
at

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national sport governing body, governing body for cycle sport in United Kingdom, Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands a ...