Liverpool badminton star Rachel Choong says Paralympics is ‘ultimate dream come true’

Liverpool badminton star Rachel Choong says it will be her ‘ultimate dream come true’ when she represents ParalympicsGB in Paris this week.

30-year-old Rachel Choong from Crosby already holds an incredible 12 World Championship medals and 10 European titles but this will be the first time she’s been able to compete in the Paralympics.

Badminton was made a part of the Games schedule in Tokyo, which took place in 2021 due to a year’s Covid delay, but Rachel has had to wait another three years for her classification to be selected for contest.

She will make history when she becomes the first female athlete to represent ParalympicsGB in the sport, going for gold in the women’s singles event and in the mixed doubles where she and fellow Brit Jack Shephard will be hoping to add to their World bronze medal in 2022 and European title in 2023.

Now one of the country’s most successful badminton players, Rachel first started out in the sport when she was just six years old, bouncing a balloon on her racquet in a junior session.

She played at her local club with her family at Victoria Badminton Club which is now Crosby Badminton Club.

“I didn’t feel excluded in any way because I was one of the youngest or because of my disability and I was included in all of the sessions,” she said.

Having won her first medals back in 2008, Rachel admits that it was a setback when she discovered she wouldn’t be challenging in Tokyo.

“It was devastating,” she told BBC Sounds Paris: Grassroots to Glory. “It hit me a lot harder than I anticipated and I was very close to giving up on the sport.”

When it was announced that her events would be included in the Paris schedule, she says it was a hugely exciting opportunity.

“It’s something that I’ve always dreamt of and so many times in my career I thought it would never happen – that I’d even get there, let alone the possibility of winning medals. I would say that it would be the ultimate dream come true.”

Reds fan Rachel was inspired to chase Paralympic glory after London hosted a hugely successful Games back in 2012.

“The torch relay was going through Crosby beach and I remember me and my mate went down to the beach and watched it.”

She now trains on court for between 21 and 22 hours each week and spends an extra four hours a week in the gym, taking care of her diet to make sure her energy levels are always where they need to be to play at the highest level. 

Scouser Rachel will be one of 215 athletes from 19 sports making up the British team that will compete in Paris.

At Tokyo 2020, ParalympicsGB won medals across a record breaking 18 different sports – the highest number of any nation ever – finishing second on the medal table with 124 medals overall, including 41 gold, 38 silver and 45 bronze.

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