Shelly Woods

Shelly Woods (born 4 June 1986) is an elite British Paralympic athlete from the suburb of Layton in Blackpool, Lancashire.

Shelly started using a wheelchair at the age of 11 after a heavy fall which injured her spinal cord. As a wheelchair athlete, she has achieved considerable success having won the Great North Run in 2005, setting a new British record for the half-marathon in the process. Shelly is also the national record holder over 5,000 metres and won silver medals in her very first London Marathon in 2005 and again in 2006.

Shelly also holds the women's course record for the Reading Half Marathon, set in 2004 at 66 minutes 37 seconds.

On 22 April 2007, Shelly won the London Marathon Women's wheelchair race for the first time in a record time of 1:50:41.

Representing Team GB at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, Woods won a bronze medal in the 5,000 metres wheelchair final at the second time of asking. Having originally been awarded silver for coming second on 8 September, a controversial protest arising from a multiple collision (six athletes crashed) in the final straight led to the race being re-staged four days later.

Shelly later won a silver medal in the 1500m, finishing very strongly to beat Switzerland's Edith Hunkeler at the line.

External links

* [http://www.shellywoods.com/ Shellywoods.com: Shelly's website]