Gold medal-winning Paralympian Richard Whitehead, from Lowdham, visit Muskham Primary School

Pupils at a village primary school were inspired by home-grown talent after a visit from a medal-winning Paralympian.

Richard Whitehead, from Lowdham, competed for Team GB’s ice sledge hockey team at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin, and won gold in the in the 200m T42 Athletics event at the 2012 Paralympics, in a course record time.

He visited Muskham Primary School on Monday (October 6) to lead a whole school assembly, where he spoke about his journey as a Paralympian and shared his message that anything is possible with grit, determination and self-belief.

Richard also spoke of his admiration for the school’s values — optimism, perseverance, empathy, questioning, creativity and independence — and explained how these very values continue to inspire him in his marathon running and helped him achieve success on the world stage.

The children were amazed to learn that he has completed over 90 marathons – a quick Year 6 calculation revealed this to be more than 2,496 miles!

Mrs. Keane, school PE Coordinator, was that she was “delighted to welcome such a great sporting icon to the school, especially as he endorsed the fantastic PE activities already taking place at Muskham Primary”.

“Richard’s special message was clear: everyone has a gift,” said headteacher Amanda Crossland.

“He encouraged everyone to nurture their dreams and talents, to work hard and never shy away from challenges. His parting reminder to the children was that with effort and belief, anything is possible and success will follow.”