Carly Tait (born 2 January 1986) is a British wheelchair athlete specialising in sprint and middle-distance events in the T34 classification.

Early years

Tait, who has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

, was born in 1986 - daughter of Andrew Tait and Victoria Tait. She was educated at Ashton-on-Mersey high school before attending South Trafford College. She matriculated to the University of Central Lancashire where she achieved a degree in marketing, communications and advertising.

Athletics career

Tait took up wheelchair racing in 2012, after being inspired by the Summer Paralympics in London. She first tried out disability athletics sport in November 2012, and after becoming classified as a T34 athlete she began competing at national meets in 2013. Tait took part in her first IPC Grand Prix meet in 2014, competing in Nottwil in Switzerland. In the buildup to the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

, she was selected to represent Great Britain at the

2016 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2016 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Israel. It was held in Grosseto, Italy and to ...

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the ...

. Several of Tait's team-mates failed to make the trip to Italy, including world number one

Hannah Cockroft Hannah Lucy Cockroft (born 30 July 1992) is a British wheelchair racer specialising in sprint distances in the T34 classification. She holds the world records for the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres ...

, leaving the field open. Tait won silver at two distances, the 100 m and 400 m events. She also won the 800 m middle-distance event, but the race was declared a non-medal event due to a lack of competitors. When the initial list of British track and field athletes for the Summer Paralympics was announced on 27 July 2016 Tait was not among their number. Two days later Tait and shot putter Beverley Jones were added to the squad after two additional slots were made available to the Great Britain team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, Carly 1986 births Living people English female wheelchair racers Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy Paralympic athletes for Great Britain British female wheelchair racers