WITH the Olympics over it's now time to look forward to the upcoming Paralympics where one of our own from Somerset will be trying to win gold in Paris.

Hannah Taunton, 33, is from Taunton and has been running since her teens. She took up running in secondary school where her running ability was spotted by her PE teacher who suggested she join her local athletics club.

The Paralympian has a condition that affects her speech and language; however, she regularly competes against athletes who have no intellectual impairment.

This year Hannah will be running the 1500-metre event in the T20 category for athletes with intellectual impairment.

Just before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Hannah managed to get some international races in before the Olympics.

Hannah broke the T20 5000m world record at the British Championships 2020 held at the Manchester Regional Arena before going on to win a bronze medal on her Paralympic debut.

Competing last time out in Tokyo in 2020, Hannah came home with the bronze medal with a new personal best of 4:35:34.

Before getting her hands on bronze, Hannah interviewed with us and was very nervous ahead of the event.

She said: “I am excited but nervous, but proud to be representing Great Britain at the Tokyo Paralympics.”

Hannah is a regular at Longrun Meadow Parkrun and many of the local road races over the years competing for the Taunton Athletics Club.

In 2016 when opportunities for T20 athletes became more frequent, Hannah made the transition from road to track to see how far her talents could take her.

Within a year, Hannah was invited into the British Athletics Para Futures Programme and then progressed into the World Class Para Programme.

Hannah will be competing on Friday, September 6 in the T20 1500m.