Former Oaklands Wolves Athletics Academy and Oaklands College alumna Maria Lyle sprinted to success in Tokyo, at the 2020 Paralympic Games.
Maria, who earned Team Great Britain their first medal of the Games powered over the line to take Bronze in the Women’s T35 100m final with a season’s best 14.18 seconds, narrowly trailing Australia’s Isis Holt and China’s Xia Zhou.
Maria, who has cerebral palsy, has been an instrumental figure throughout her journey both as a student athlete at Oaklands College in 2016/17, where she studied a diploma in Sport & Exercise Science.
Speaking to reporters shortly after crossing the line in third place, Maria said:
“For me it was about going out there and enjoying the experience. To run the time I have, and to enjoy the experience, I am really happy,” she said.
“It was always going to be difficult to challenge for gold and silver so I really had to stick to my own race plan. I didn’t expect the time.
“It was hard to gauge where I was because the other two girls (Zhou and Holt) were quite far ahead but I just focused on what I needed to do for my race.
Maria joined fellow Oaklands College alumna Olivia Breen on the podium, the college hopes to welcome both alumni back to the campus in the near future to celebrate their inspiring success.