Rochelle "Shelly" Woods (born 4 June 1986) is an elite British

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

athlete from the suburb of Layton in Blackpool,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Woods is a T54 athlete who competes as a wheelchair racer in medium and long-distance events. She has competed in two Paralympic Games, Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, where she won three medals. She is also a world-class marathon athlete, winning the women's elite wheelchair race at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2012 London Marathon The 2012 London Marathon was the 32nd running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 22 April. Both of the elite races were won by Kenyan athletes, and Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede was the only non-Kenyan to re ...

Personal history

Woods was born on 4 June 1986 in Blackpool. At the age of 11 Woods fell from a tree, resulting in a permanent injury to her spinal cord at the T12-L1 vertebra (

paraplegia Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

) and requiring her to use a wheelchair.

Sporting career

Woods had always been a keen sportsperson, and after her injury she continued to be active in sports, including wheelchair basketball and swimming. She eventually decided to commit to athletics, stating in a 2011 interview that she made her choice to focus on racing, "because it was hardest". She was first identified as a potential throwing athlete, but switched to racing under the advice of her first coach, Andrew Gill. Gill and woods parted amicably when she was 17, as Gill believed that he had taken her as far as he could and wanted to see Woods progress under another coach. She eventually teamed up with specialist wheelchair coach,

Andrew Dawes Andrew Dawes (February 7, 1940 – October 30, 2022) was a Canadian violinist. He was known for his performances with the Orford String Quartet. Early life and education Dawes was born in High River, Alberta.Curtin Call: A Photographer's Candi ...

. In 2004 Woods set the women's course record for the

Reading Half Marathon The Reading Half Marathon (currently known as the Unleashed Performance Reading Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a half marathon road running event held on the streets of the English town of Reading, first held in 1983. The race is norm ...

, set at 66 minutes 37 seconds. As a wheelchair athlete, she has achieved considerable success having won the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shie ...

in 2005, setting a new British record for the half-marathon in the process. Woods is also the national record holder over 5,000 metres and won silver medals in her very first

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

in 2005 and again in 2006. On 22 April 2007, Woods won the

Women's wheelchair race for the first time in a record time of 1:50:40. Representing Team GB at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Woods won a bronze medal in the 5,000 metres wheelchair final at the second time of asking. Having originally been awarded silver for coming second on 8 September, a controversial protest arising from a multiple collision (six athletes crashed) in the final straight led to the race being re-staged four days later. Woods later won a silver medal in the 1500m, finishing very strongly to beat Switzerland's

Edith Hunkeler Edith Wolf (née Hunkeler, born 30 July 1972) is a Switzerland, Swiss former wheelchair racer, who competed in the T54 (classification), T54 classification. Wolf competed at a range of distances from 400m to marathon length events and is a multi ...

at the line, and came fourth in the marathon. Woods also represented Team GB at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London where she won a silver medal in the women's marathon. She 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. Woods competed in the Glasgow

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

and finished sixth in the 1500m before going on to three fifth places finishes 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 ...

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

. In September 2014, she recorded a half marathon personal best (50.36) to win the BUPA Great North Run.

Notes

External links

Shellywoods.com: Shelly's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Shelly People with paraplegia Olympic wheelchair racers for Great Britain Sportspeople from Blackpool 1986 births Living people World record holders in para-athletics English female wheelchair racers British female wheelchair racers Paralympic wheelchair racers Commonwealth Games athletes for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic athletes for Great Britain 21st-century English sportswomen