Josie Rachel Pearson

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 3 January 1986) is a

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US name ...

player and athlete from England. Pearson represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

, becoming the first women to compete in wheelchair rugby for her country at the Paralympics. After competing as a sprint athlete, Pearson switched to throwing events and qualified for the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in both discus and

club throw The club throw is an athletic throwing event where the objective is to throw a wooden club. The event is one of the four throwing events, along with discus, javelin and shot put of the Summer Paralympics. It is the Paralympic equivalent of the ha ...

in the F51 class, eventually taking the gold in discus with a world record distance.

Career history

Pearson was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1986 to Philip and Sue. The younger of two daughters, Pearson grew up in the village of

Brilley Brilley is a small village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Wales, and about north-east of the Welsh border town of Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye ( cy, Y Gelli Gandryll), simply known locally as "Hay" ( cy, Y Gel ...

, Herefordshire. She later moved to

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye ( cy, Y Gelli Gandryll), simply known locally as "Hay" ( cy, Y Gelli), is a market town and community in Powys, Wales; it was historically in the county of Brecknockshire. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as "the t ...

on the Welsh border, where her mother ran a fashion and lifestyle shop. A keen show jumper, she was involved in a head-on car collision near

Goytre Goytre ( cy, Goetre) is a village near the town of Port Talbot, Wales. The village lies in the valley of the Nant Ffrwdwyllt, between the communities of Taibach, Cwmafan, Bryn and Margam. The former St Peter's Church (Church in Wales) was a ' ...

in Wales in May 2003. The accident, in which her boyfriend died, resulted in Pearson breaking two bones in her neck and permanent spinal damage. Her legs were paralysed but she retained some use of her arms. While Pearson at first wished to continue riding, her injuries made that course difficult. She continued her sporting endeavours and along with appearing in a dressage exhibition in 2005, she also trained as a

wheelchair racer Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

in 100, 200 and 400m events. She began wheelchair rugby while studying neuroscience at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, and while there she contacted the local club, Cardiff Pirates. Accepted into the team, she decided to leave university after a year to concentrate on making the Paralympic squad, a goal she had followed since watching the Athens Games. In November 2006 she was selected to represent

at the

. The team finished just outside the medals, after losing to Canada in the bronze medal decider. GB national wheelchair rugby team - Beijing 2008

In 2011 at the

IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

in New Zealand she finished 5th in both the 100m and 800m events and was disqualified in both the 200m and 400m races. Frustrated by her performance, Pearson decided to leave wheelchair racing and switched to throwing events. She took up discus and the club throw, and in 2011 came first in the F51 discus in the Czech Open with a distance of 4.42 and second in the F51 club throw, recording 8.81m. In 2012, she improved on her personal bests, throwing 12.81m in the club and a world record of 6.66m in the F51 discus. These results were enough to qualify for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in both events. On 7 September 2012, Pearson won gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games, breaking the F51 discus world record in the process. As part of the Olympic and Paralympic home-nation celebrations, the

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

issued a stamp of each of the gold winning medalists, as well as painting a post-box in their home town gold. Pearson chose Hay-on-Wye as the location for her golden post-box. Pearson was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

for services to athletics. In 2013 Pearson qualified for the discus and club throw as part of the British team for the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, ...

in Lyon, France. In the discus Pearson threw a distance of 7.09m, setting a new world record and securing the gold medal. Four days later she recorded a personal best in the club throw, and secured the bronze medal. In 2014, Pearson won silver in the club throw at the IPC European Championships in a GB & NI one, two, three (Jo Butterfield, Josie Pearson, Gemma Prescott). After a restructuring to the Paralympic programme in the run-up to the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, in April 2015 it was announced that Pearson had joined

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...

's Paralympic Podium Programme in order to compete in

handcycling A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually having th ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Josie 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Bristol English female discus throwers British female discus throwers British club throwers British female wheelchair racers Female discus throwers Track and field athletes with disabilities Sportswomen with disabilities British wheelchair rugby players English people with disabilities Paralympic athletes for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic wheelchair rugby players for Great Britain Wheelchair rugby players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics World record holders in para-athletics Alumni of Cardiff University Members of the Order of the British Empire People with paraplegia Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)