LAUREN Booth brought the curtain down on 2013 by setting a new world record but the Chippenham para- cyclist believes she can go even faster still this year.
The final weekend of November saw Booth compete on her home track for the Newport International Para-cycling Cup, rubbing shoulders with some of Great Britain’s biggest names.
And Booth, 12, won the youth omnium, breaking a women’s C4 flying 200m world record that had stood for more than a decade.
That result put Booth on the radar as a potential athlete to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and she is now benefiting from the SSE Next Generation ambassador scheme.
However, the Abbeyfield School pupil insists she is not thinking too grand just yet – except for lowering her world record even further.
“I have been doing track cycling since I was seven and my highlight was doing a flying 200m in a world record time,” said Booth.
“My mum didn’t know it was a world record at the time and I said to her before that I was hoping to come third, not first.
“My coach always says that I should try and get 15 seconds and then I was practicing and I got 14 seconds, which was great.
“That has given me loads of confidence and my aim this year is to beat my world record again.”
Booth insists that her recent exploits have given her a new-found belief that she can indeed reach the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics as a teenager in six years’ time.
“It is great to be on the SSE Next Generation ambassador scheme and it is a really big confidence boost,” she said. “The long-term aim is to go to Tokyo for the 2020 Paralympics.
“That is the main goal. I am more confident that I can do it now after breaking the world record. It would be amazing to do that.”
SSE are partnering with SportsAid to support the sporting stars of the future as part of their commitment to Glasgow 2014 and beyond with their SSE Next Generation ambassador programme. Keep up to date with the latest @YourSSE.
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