Alice Tai celebrates Paris 2024 medal haul after overcoming mental health struggles: 'I'm so proud of myself'

Alice Tai has expressed pride in her journey from overcoming mental health struggles at the Rio 2016 Paralympics to achieving glory at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

The British swimmer won gold in the women’s 100m backstroke S8 on the opening weekend of the Games, adding a bronze medal the next day in the women’s 200m medley SM8.

Tai currently has three Paralympic medals, winning gold in the 4x100m medley at Rio 2016. But she had a challenging experience in Brazil, where she was suffering from undiagnosed ADHD.

However, it is the journey that makes the destination even sweeter, which was certainly the case as she added two more medals to her collection in the French capital.

Tai told BBC Sport, "My mental health was the worst it's ever been and I didn't want to be there, I didn't want to be alive to be honest. To have made such a recovery in my mental health and to have so much surgery over the last three years, I'm so proud of myself and so thankful to the team that support me."

The Brit had her right leg amputated from below the knee in 2022, after she was born with clubfoot.

Tai continued, "For me the biggest thing about being a Paralympian is being able to advocate for disability. I really want to break the stigma for my disability, just being here is doing that and I'm so privileged to be able to do that.

"I really hope that other people with disabilities, who might be a bit self conscious, can watch the Paralympics and see someone like them and the next day wake up with a bit more confidence in themselves."