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BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Paralympian Archie Atkinson ignored teacher to chase cycling dream
As a teenager, Archie Atkinson could not believe it when one of his teachers told him to quit cycling because it would apparently never amount to with the backing of his parents, the 16-year-old instead decided to leave college and pursue his dreams in the sport he now 20-year-old Paralympian, from Heaton Moor in Stockport, Greater Manchester, said to hear that as a 16-year-old was "pretty hard"."To be told your dreams mean nothing, and what you wanted since you were a little kid was worthless... so I left college the next day," Atkinson said. That single-minded determination, not to mention a desire to prove a point, has certainly paid off."Less than a year later I won my first world championships," said Atkinson."So I sent her a nice email... but I'm sill waiting on a response."Atkinson has shared his story as part of BBC North West Tonight's six-part series about living with invisible disabilities and 20-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism, grew up around cycling and enjoyed many family bike rides as a child. His first experience of riding on a track came when he was 10 years old, under the tutelage of Olympic champion Sir Chris it was not until a chance encounter with double Paralympic gold medallist Ben Watson while on a ride with his father in 2021 that he truly decided to pursue his cycling dreams. Atkinson discovered he was eligible for para-cycling and was accepted on to the British Cycling Foundation a year, he was promoted to its world-class performance programme. "The Paralympics is a whole manner of disabilities," said Atkinson. "It's pretty cool."He thinks there is considerable ignorance though."I was recently at an event in America and you tell them 'I'm a Paralympian' and the first thing they do is look you up and down and try to find your disability."I can understand it. I don't look disabled from the outside, but it's quite hurtful because you're questioning 'is that person disabled'?"Atkinson said he really struggled at school and was "bullied pretty much for four years during high school".He said: "I used to do para football for quite a while and they found out where I trained. "They would film it, post it on social media, use sort of disabled slurs under some stuff."Atkinson said those tough experiences had made him the person he is today."It's built a character that helps in elite sport, as I'm a bit more tough."He said his conditions "don't change who I am. It's a written thing on a piece of paper from a doctor but to have it – I'm proud of it."I wouldn't be me without it so there's no reason to hide it." Atkinson's experiences are echoed by fellow cyclist Kiera 27-year-old, from Bolton, said she only felt safe from the bullies at school when she was hiding in a toilet cubicle. A decade on, she has five world championships to her name. "Sport has been a lifeline that has helped me to be able to accept who I am and make me happy of who I am," said said cycling had also helped her to connect with people."I have grown as a person, picking up lifelong skills," she said. Sport has opened so many doors for winning six Special Olympics gold medals, she serves on both the competition's International and Great Britain Board of Directors. The Special Olympics, in which people with intellectual disabilities from around the world compete, were founded in has autism, a learning disability and Rubinstein Taybi Syndrome - a condition which affects people in different ways and to varying degrees, according to the RTS Support Group."Just having a diagnosis and labels sometimes is difficult because people only see the labels on the paper, they don't see you as a person," she said. Byland is determined to help others who are also living with disabilities and conditions which are not immediately obvious. "I always say, I like to be the person that I wish I had when I was younger."If you're in a dark place right now, in school, and you're struggling with academics, there is a different way."Life doesn't have to be in one direction. "You can make your own path and thrive and survive in many ways."Archie Atkinson and Kiera Byland feature in a special six-part BBC North West Tonight series about invisible disabilities and conditions. You can watch it on BBC One in the Northwest of England and the Isle of Man from 18:30 BST on Monday 7 July. It will also be available on the BBC iPlayer. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.


South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Rhian Wilkinson wants Wales to bounce back from opening setback
Manchester City forward Vivianne Miedema broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time in Lucerne with a fantastic curling effort to bag her 100th international goal. Victoria Pelova then doubled the advantage just three minutes into the second half before Esmee Brugts wrapped the three points up as Wales slipped to defeat in their opening game. Wales are the lowest-ranked side in the competition, but Wilkinson believes her team can take confidence from the loss in preparation for Wednesday's meeting with France. ⏰ FT | 🏴 0-3 🇳🇱 Defeat in our opening game at #WEURO2025 in Lucerne. — Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) July 5, 2025 'I think all of us as a group are going to have learned something about how we have to suffer in moments of a game,' Wilkinson said in her post-match press conference. 'We have to hang on and we can't capitulate our chains, our connection as a group has to be really tight. We saw moments where we just got a bit stretched and they took advantage of that. 'I do think the players themselves – it sounds strange when you lose 3-0 – but they'll have gained a bit of confidence in this. 'We'd rather lose by three or four nothing and try and play than just sit back. You could say we were defensive in the first half, but it was for a real purpose, we had a game plan and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. 'It almost got us to half, so in that way I don't think it was completely off-base but we'll keep pushing.' Wales are currently bottom of the Group D standings following their defeat, with Wednesday's opponents France in second place after beating England 2-1 on Saturday night. They conclude their group campaign with a clash against England and Wilkinson is hoping the team can take lessons into their upcoming matches. Cymru yn creu hanes 🏴 First Women's EURO game ✅#WEURO2025 — UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 5, 2025 She added: 'We have to create more opportunities and make sure those moments of lapses get fewer and fewer. 'This is the world stage, this is the big event and it's intimidating, it's the first game, but equally this is what we want. It comes with lessons like this. 'We've got two more big games and we've got to show up again and hopefully learn from how we finished that game because we really stepped up in the last 20 to 25 minutes.'


BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Cyclists crash into crowd at German Track Championships
The final day of the German Track Cycling Championships was abandoned after several spectators were injured when two cyclists crashed into the incident happened on the final bend of the men's keirin semi-finals as the two riders careered over the barriers at a speed of about 35mph at the track in Dudenhofen, western spectators were injured, some seriously, with two needing to be airlifted to hospital. The two cyclists escaped with minor helicopters, six ambulances and an emergency doctor attended the incident."The health of athletes and spectators always comes first. Cancelling the event was therefore unavoidable. Best wishes for a speedy recovery go out to all those injured," said German Cycling marketing and communications officer Oliver of Dudenhofen Cycling Club, Jens Hartwig, said: "I'm shocked by the accident. We've had a cycling festival here in Dudenhofen for five days. Of course, no-one wanted the event to end like this. I wish everyone involved a speedy and full recovery."