Ali Jawad

Great Britain’s Ali Jawad is determined to show the world that anything is possible.

Under his favourite #StrongisHappy, he regularly posts videos of his training regime to update his adoring fans.

However the road for the Lebanese born lifter has been paved with challenges.

The night before he was due to compete at Beijing 2008, Jawad fell ill. He still competed, finishing ninth, but he was later diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

Then four years later, after a devastating series of events at his home Games at London 2012 denied him a medal, the Leeds born lifter suffered a flare-up of his condition which could have put him out of action for good.

However Jawad was determined not to let that ruin his road to Rio 2016 and, after controlling his diet and training hard, he stepped onto the podium at two regional Championships in 2013.

His moment in the sun came at the 2014 World Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where his commitment paid off with a world title.

However there was trouble on the horizon once again for Jawad. In Dubai, Egypt’s Sherif Osman announced that he was moving up to Jawad’s weight category.

Othman had lifted a 205kg world record to win the men’s up to 54kg – 11kg more than Jawad’s 194kg best.

Then Othman set a 210kg world record in his debut in the up to 59kg in March 2015.

However Jawad refused to be distracted by the Egyptians growing confidence.

In 2015 he stormed to the European title and also won gold at the Americas Open Championships, placing him firmly in the running for his first Paralympic medal.

By the time Rio rolled around Jawad was ready for action.

He lifted 190kg to equal his world record lift from the 2014 World Championships, claiming silver and putting to rest the disappointments of the previous two Paralympic Games.

Jawad had still finished behind Osman, but the joy of finishing on the Paralympic podium was clear for everyone to see.