International Women's week

I have spent time thinking who I admire and who gives me the strength to get up every morning. It was difficult to choose with so many successful and empowered women in the world -- Mrs Clinton, Mrs Obama, Mrs Thatcher and not forgetting Condie Rice --- I have actually chosen someone a bit closer to home and a sporting hero of mine.

Carys Davina "Tanni" Grey-Thompson,Baroness Grey-Thompson, DBE(born 26 July 1969 in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh athlete and TV presenter.

Grey-Thompson was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. She is considered to be one of the most successful disabled athletes in the UK. Her international career began in 1988 in Seoul, where she won a bronze medal in the 400m. As a young athlete she also competed in wheelchair basketball. Her fifth and last Paralympic Games were in Athens (2004) where she won two gold medals in wheelchair racing in the 100m and 400m. On 28 February 2007 she announced her pending retirement, with her last appearance for Great Britain at May's Paralympic World Cup in Manchester. Over her career she won a total of 16 Paralympic medals, including 11 golds, held over 30 world records, and won the London Marathon six times between 1992 and 2002. She has been an ambassador for British Athletics for a number of years and along with all this success has managed to have a family. She has accepted and embraced her disability and is probably more able than many people. I am so looking forward to London, 2012 -- sadly Tanni will not be competing but she has definitely put Paralympics on the map and proven that if you want it you can achieve it.