Kadeena Cox never thought about becoming a cyclist. Sprinting was always her thing and the 200m was where she excelled. Cox was one of the fastest able-bodied junior athletes in Britain and when thoughts of making it to Rio first entered her head, she dreamed of running on the track in the Olympics.
Two years ago, however, her life changed for ever when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a neurological condition that can be exacerbated by exercise, stress and overexertion, after suffering a stroke a few months earlier. Cox’s illness wrecked her chances of continuing in able-bodied sports but one of the first questions she asked her doctor was whether she would be able to compete again. Told that she could, she altered her sights to focus on the Paralympics, only to discover that she was finding it difficult to run.
So she sat on a bike for the first time. “It was something I could do, sitting in a stationary bike that was stable,” Cox says. Soon it was clear that she had the potential to become a star on two wheels after switching to para sport, confirmation of which arrived when the 25-year-old from Leeds won the 500m time trial (C4) in the Track World Championships this year.
“There are people who know more than me about the sport,” she says. “But I’ve got raw talent and passion and I’m determined to win.”
What you should know about Cox is that she is stubborn. She has developed into a world-class cyclist in the space of 18 months and yet she was not willing to let go of athletics, her first love. Once she was able to return to the track, she defied the oppressive heat in Doha to win 100m (T37) gold in the World Championships and set a new world record last year. It meant too much to her and, despite the misgivings of her coaches, that is why Cox will be representing ParalympicsGB in two sports in Rio.
Isabel Newstead was the last British athlete to win medals in two sports in the same Paralympics, collecting discus gold and shooting bronze in Seoul in 1988, but it briefly seemed that Cox would be restricted to the 100m, 400m and 4x100m relay in athletics when she was omitted from the original cycling squad in June after undergoing classification tests. She had started out in the C2 category but was moved into the C4 category for less impaired riders, having already been moved from the T37 to T38 category in athletics. However, space was made for her in the squad last month and she will race in the 500m time trial and the road race (both C4/C5).
Remarkably, Cox is not just looking to equal Newstead’s record. There is a belief within the ParalympicsGB camp that she could win five golds, although pulling it off will require an extraordinary effort. Cox’s condition means that her fatigue levels are high and recovery is crucial. “We noticed I wasn’t getting enough and I was being affected in training sessions,” she says. “That’s the challenge of doing two sports, I guess.”
She sounds almost blasé but her task is daunting given that the time trial is the day after the 100m final. How she recovers from the 100m will be crucial.
It is a surprise, then, to hear that Cox is thinking about adding a third sport after the Games. “I’m waiting for them to bring in bobsleigh so I can do the winter Paralympics as well,” she says. “I would do the two-man bob.”
Her hunger is insatiable. “I never wanted to give in to my condition,” Cox says. “My life changed a lot but I didn’t want it to change my dreams or goals. I think I had been in hospital for a couple of days when I started fundraising to get to the Games.
“Initially I wasn’t able to work. I wasn’t able to get to facilities as I wasn’t driving at that time. I hoped that people would support me to get to this point and last year their money and support got me to be the world champion in the 100m. I’m just grateful for ever to the people who believed in me because it was just one girl’s dream and thousands of people are making it come true. This year I’m on lottery funding, without which I wouldn’t be able to afford it or take the time out of university to do the two sports. Lottery funding has been a lifesaver.”
Cox is the third eldest in a family of seven children and her parents will be supporting her in Rio. “My mum’s my rock,” she says. “She’s not really shown any sign of letting my condition break her. It’s only when I hear her do interviews that I realise how much she’s struggled with it but she’s been strong with me 24/7. She’s put up with my tantrums and my moodiness when things aren’t going my way and she’s been there to pick me up.”
One problem, though. “My mum at my competitions is the most embarrassing person in the world,” Cox says. “She just screams so loud. I’m just like ‘mother, please’. She always videos and the video is not of me, it’s of the sky or the ground because she’s always jumping around. Mum is not very good at videoing or cheering.”
She had better start practising.
