Grace Greenwood: “To be a double sport international at just 21 would be crazy”

Grace Greenwood caught the “athletics bug” when she was 12, but the 20-year-old record-breaking T35 sprinter has more strings to her sporting bow, having also represented Great Britain in Taekwondo.

Over £100,000 is set to be distributed to 23 local athletes as part of a new performance scheme helping islanders to excel in their chosen sport.

Jersey Sport this month announced that a total of £103,500 has been allocated to allow the athletes – who compete in 11 different sports – to access professional development workshops on the Performance Sport Programme.

One of the athletes set to benefit from the scheme is double para sport international, and soon-to-be Loughborough student, Grace Greenwood, who has already represented both sports on the world stage before her twenty-first birthday.

Express sat down with Grace, who has cerebral palsy, to chat about her sporting ambitions, and how the new funding programme will help her to achieve them…

Can you tell us about your sporting journey so far?

I have always loved sport, catching the athletics bug when I was 12 running the 100m and 200m as a T35 sprinter.

I always did karate alongside my athletics, and I used that knowledge-to-talent transfer across to Taekwondo and am now part of the GB Elite Pathway.

Did you expect to get this far in your sport?

I had a lot of early success in athletics, in 2018 I broke the U14 UK record and was selected for the World Championships in Barcelona, coming away with a double bronze competing against much older athletes.

At U17, I was ranked number one in Europe and top five in the world, travelling a lot to compete internationally for GB and England. I even went to the 2022 Commonwealth Games with Team England as part of the Paralympic Futures Programme. 

In my late teens I found running physically more challenging, and that’s when I decided to pursue Taekwondo as a second sport, as I already had a black belt in karate. 

What do you love about your sport?

I love the technical elements of Taekwondo, it’s more complex than athletics in that respect.

I like the intensity of sparring and learning new patterns, and that what I learn is tested in intense gradings every few months.

Being a member of the GB squad means I get to train with world class coaches alongside established Olympic and Paralympic athletes at the National Taekwondo Centre in Manchester.

How do you feel about being chosen to benefit from the Performance Sport Programme?

I’m so happy that this has been launched.

The financial cost of travelling to training and competition is so expensive for Jersey athletes, but also it brings us together as a group, and I’m sure we can all learn from each other even though we are pursuing our individual sports.

How will the programme assist your sporting progress?

It’s not just the funding, but also the access to wider sport science services such as nutrition, psychology and education.

It’s pretty intense trying to manage training alongside all the other needs to keep progressing in sport at the highest level, just knowing there is now a support system in place is very reassuring. 

What is your sporting dream?

I’ve been really fortunate to represent Team England, have been to a world championships and Commonwealth Games, a Commonwealth Federation GAPS camp, and run internationally for Team GB.

To be selected by Team GB in a second sport would be just amazing, and I really think that’s something I will do, maybe as early as 2026. I’m certainly aiming for the 2026 European and world championships.

To be a double sport international at just 21 would be crazy.

Anything you’d like to add?

I’m really excited about gaining a place at Loughborough University to study for a degree in Criminology alongside full time Taekwondo training with my National Taekwondo Club.

Having access to indoor track facilities will also bring me back to performance athletics; I’m not sure I’m finished with that journey just yet.