Maria Lyle (born 14 February 2000) is a retired para-athlete from Scotland who competed mainly in T35 sprint events. At the age of 14 she set a world record in the 200m sprint, a record she has broken on several occasions. In 2014, she qualified for the

IPC Athletics European Championships The World Para Athletics European Championships (''European Para Athletics Championships''), known prior to 2018 as the IPC Athletics European Championships is an event organized by World Para Athletics Championships, World Para Athletics, the int ...

in Swansea and won gold in both the 100m and 200m T35.

Personal history

Lyle was born in

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

, Scotland, in 2000 to Raymond and Susan Lyle. She has one younger sister. She has spastic dipelgic

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

, attributed to her mother contracting shingles while pregnant with her. Lyle is a former pupil of Dunbar Grammar School, having also attended Oaklands College in Hertfordshire, graduating from the elite Oaklands Wolves Sports Academy in 2017. She is studying for a degree in sports coaching at

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

on a dual career athlete programme under the UK government's Talented Athletes Scholarship Scheme. Lyle and journalist Gary Heatly co-host This Ability Podcast
GH Media
.

Running career

Lyle began running at the age of nine. In 2009, she joined Dunbar Running Club and began competing at local and national meets mainly in sprint events. In July 2012, at the age of 12, she posted a world record time of 32.37 in the 200m at the Birmingham Games. Despite the fact that this was faster than the winning time of 32.72 set by China's Liu Ping in the 2012 Paralympic 200m T35 final, Lyle was ineligible for the Games as she was too young to be given a disability classification which also meant that her record time could not be officially accepted. In 2014, she was classified as a T35 athlete and in February she travelled to Dubai to compete at the Fazaa International, an

IPC IPC may refer to: Businesses and organizations Arts and media * Intellectual Property Committee, a coalition of US corporations with intellectual property interests * International Panorama Council, an international network of specialists in ...

Grand Prix event. There she entered both the 100m and 200m sprints. She won gold in the 100m with a time of 14.58, though this was classed as

wind assisted In track and field, wind assistance is the benefit that an athlete receives during a race or event as registered by a wind gauge. Wind is one of many forms of weather that can affect sport. Due to a tailwind helping to enhance the speed of the at ...

so she could not claim it as a personal best. In the 200m she ran 31.01, winning gold and beating Liu Ping's 2005 record of 32.27. Later that year in May she competed at the Bedford International Open and set a world record in the 100m of 14.63, and surpassed her own world record in the 200m with a time of 30.71. Lyle was selected for her first major international when she represented Great Britain at the

2014 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Azerbaijan and Israel. It was held in Swans ...

in Swansea. In her first event, the 100m T35, she won gold with a time of 14.92, beating Italy's

Oxana Corso Oxana Corso (born 9 July 1995 in Saint Petersburg) is a Russian-born Italian Paralympic athlete. , she holds the Women's 400 metres world records for the T35 cerebral palsy classification. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, ...

by over a second and a half. The next day she took part in the 200m, and in poor weather conditions ran 31.05 to take her second European title. In the build up to 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 ...

in Doha, Lyle took part in the

Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...

International where she ran 13.90 in the 100m and 29.24 in the 200m sprint, though the times were unofficial and did not count as world records. In Doha, Lyle's first event saw her line up against the new world record holder Isis Holt. Holt, a 14 year old from Australia, pushed Lyle into second place with a world record sprint, though Lyle's time of 29.32 was an official personal best and new European record. At the

2016 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2016 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Israel. It was held in Grosseto, Italy and ...

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

Lyle won three golds, in the T35

100m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

200m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

- where she set a new championship record of 29.91s - and the T35-T38 4 x 100m relay, alongside Olivia Breen, Georgina Hermitage and

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 ...

. At 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 ...

, Lyle took individual bronze medals in the T35

and the

, and a silver as part of Team GB's T35-T38 4 x 100m relay squad. At the

2017 World Para Athletics Championships The 2017 World Para Athletics Championships were a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field meet organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held at London Stadium in London from 14 ...

in London, she took two more medals, a bronze in the T35

and a silver in the

. At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

on the Gold Coast, Lyle took a silver in the T35 100m. However, after the Games, her mental health worsened, which she later admitted had led to her considering quitting the sport. She was diagnosed with anxiety, which she overcame with the support of a specialist sports counsellor. At the

2018 World Para Athletics European Championships The 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability sport, disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Azerbaijan and Isra ...

in Berlin, Lyle successfully defended her T35

title. In June 2021 she was among the first dozen athletes chosen for the UK athletics teams at the postponed

2020 Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international 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 International Paralympi ...

in Tokyo. At the Games she took another Paralympic bronze in the T35 100m. She is coached by

Jamie Bowie Jamie Bowie (born 1 April 1989) is a Scottish track and field coach and former athlete who won a silver medal at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships as part of the Great Britain 4 × 400 metres relay, 4 × 400m Relay. Career He was born i ...

. Lyle announced her retirement on 4 July 2024.

Other awards

Lyle was awarded

British Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

Young Paralympic Athlete of the Year in 2014. She was named Para Athlete of the Year at the

Scottish Athletics Scottish Athletics, stylised as scottishathletics, is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Scotland. As such it is responsible for organising annual championships, maintaining rules for competition and ratifying records. It also selec ...

annual awards in 2015 and 2019. Lyle received the Findlay Calder trophy from Scottish Disability Sport in 2018 and 2020. She was named Glasgow Evening Times Young Scotswoman of the Year in 2019 for her athletics achievements and her work with disability and mental health charities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyle, Maria 2000 births Scottish female sprinters British female sprinters Living people World record holders in para-athletics Scottish disabled sportspeople Sportswomen with disabilities Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Para Athletics Championships winners People from Dunbar Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Scottish sportswomen Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics