Olivia "Livvy" Breen (born 26 July 1996) is a Welsh

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 ...

athlete, who competes for Wales and Great Britain mainly in T38 sprint and F38

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

events. She 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 ...

and was selected for the T38 100m and 200m sprint and was also part of the T35-38 women's relay team. She has also represented Wales at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

and

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

winning gold in the F38 Long Jump in 2018 and gold in the T37/38 100m in 2022 .

Early life

Breen was born in England to a Welsh mother and Irish father. Breen, 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 ...

, began racing while still at primary school.

Career

Breen was given her T38 classification in January 2012, allowing her to be brought into contention for Paralympic selection. In June 2012 she competed in the

IPC Athletics European Championships The World Para Athletics European Championships (''European Para Athletics Championships''), known prior to 2018 as the IPC Athletics European Championships is an event organized by World Para Athletics, the international athletics federation estab ...

Stadskanaal Stadskanaal () is a town and municipality with a population of 32,715 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. It was named after the canal Stadskanaal. From 1800 until 1900 this area was ideal for its peat mining, and so ...

in the Netherlands, winning the bronze in both the 100m and 200m sprints. She recorded a personal best in the 100m at the European championships, and followed this with a personal best in the 200m sprint at the Diamond League meet at Crystal Palace, London early in July. Her times resulted in a late call up to the Great Britain team for the

. She was the youngest member of the Great Britain Paralympic athletics team during the 2012 Games. Breen is coached by Aston Moore a long jump coach based in Loughborough.

2012 Paralympic Games in London

Breen competed in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the T38 100m and 200m sprints, and the first leg of the T35-38 women's relay team. 100m: Breen came fifth in the 100m final with a time of 14.42. The winning time was posted by Margarita Goncharova at 13.45s. 200m: After qualifying as the second fastest runner up, Breen came in eighth in the 200m final with a time of 30.22s. 4 × 100 m relay: Breen (who ran the first leg of the relay final) won a bronze medal with teammates Jenny McLoughlin, Bethy Woodward and

Katrina Hart Katrina Hart (born 17 May 1990) is an English athlete who won a gold medal for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games competing in women's 100 m T37 (athletes with cerebral palsy). She had competed at the 2008 Paralympics but was forced to ...

with a time of 56.08s which was a season's best. The final baton change between Hart and McLoughlin was poor as a result of a bump from the Australian athlete in the next lane but the team was judged to have correctly handed the baton moments before the last team member exited the hand-over zone, while in the same race two opposing teams were disqualified, one being the Australian team.

2013 IPC World Championships in Lyon

Breen finished fifth in both the 100m and 200m in Lyon at the IPC World Championships.

2014

Breen switched from sprints to compete in the long jump for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

finishing narrowly out of the medals in seventh place. The teenager then went on to compete at the IPC European Championships where she won individual bronze in the 100m behind teammate Sophie Hahn and Russia's Margarita Goncharova just a few months after recording a new personal best over the distance – 13.47. Breen then ran the second leg of the T35-38 relay team, which included Bethany Woodward, Sophie Hahn and Jenny McLoughlin. The team went on to win silver behind Russia in a new British record of 53.84.

2017

At the

2017 World Para Athletics Championships The 2017 World Para Athletics Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held at London Stadium in London from 14 to 23 July 2017. It wa ...

in London Breen secured a gold medal in the F38 Long Jump jumping a lifetime best of 4.81m. A few days later she came fourth in the T38 100m.

2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo

Breen is part of the GBteam to compete at the postponed 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.

2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

Breen took the gold medal in the Women's T38 100m Final in the

in Birmingham.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Breen, Olivia 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Guildford Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy Welsh people with disabilities Welsh female sprinters British female long jumpers Paralympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Wales Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Welsh Paralympic competitors Welsh people of Irish descent World Para Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the World Para Athletics European Championships Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games