Paris 2024: Choong ready for Paralympic debut after tough GB challenge
Great Britain’s Rachel Choong was commentating about Para badminton’s Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020. Three years later, she will compete at Paris 2024 17 Aug 2024
When Para badminton made its Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020, the closest Rachel Choong got to the action was commentating about it. Events in her SH6 class were not included in the Japanese capital, and the multiple world champion was hoping for a breakthrough at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
She did not waste a moment of her wait, either. Paralympic recognition for the sport has resulted in a significant leap forward.
“The journey has been eye-opening,” Choong explained. “When I started in Para badminton, it was small sports halls.
“The progression over time as the sport became (a Paralympic sport) and more professional, and now we play in fantastic arenas. In Paris, there will be fans, and it’s all very different from what we are used to.”
The path to Paralympic success
Choong is set to compete in the women’s singles SH6 and mixed doubles SH6 at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena, the Para badminton venue. In total, as many as 120 athletes will compete in 16 medal events in the sport.
As part of her preparation, Choong joined Great Britain’s full-time elite programme and discovered what was required the hard way. Almost driven to tears, she has learned to cope with the mental as well as the physical challenges.
“To become a champion, you have to be willing to work very hard. I joined the full-time Great Britain programme and knew it would be hard.
“I don’t think I was mentally prepared to put my body through what it takes. On a weekly basis, I would be pushed to the brink, maybe even to tears, but I had to remind myself that the goal was the Paralympics.
“That is what keeps me mentally tough and able to continue to do what I am doing, to be willing to put your body on the line and sacrifice social events with family and friends.
“If you are willing to give it everything, hopefully, it will pay dividends.”
Change Starts With Sport
Choong started playing badminton in 2000 at the age of six. She was encouraged to take up the sport because both parents played, and her sister had also just joined a local club.
“So the rest of my family encouraged me to go with her. I started Para badminton in 2007. It was quite exciting because it was the first time I had seen people with a disability like mine participate. I could play against people like me.”
Choong only relatively recently had her condition diagnosed. “From birth, I was seeing geneticists. They knew it was dwarfism, spent a lot of time investigating, and diagnosed 3M syndrome, a rare form of dwarfism.”
“Para sport has changed my life, given me so many opportunities, and opened my eye to a whole world where I can see fantastic athletes at the top of the sport and doing great things.”
Choong lists the benefits of playing Para badminton and believes the sport stands in comparison with the most mental of challenges – chess.
“I like the way badminton works physically or mentally on a person. It is challenging. It’s like a game of chess, thinking one step ahead, and then there is this sense of community.
“You make so many friends playing badminton. Sports can help your life; it’s an opportunity to make friends, be healthy, and have great mental health.”
From commentating to competing
Choong admits she found it hard not to be involved at Tokyo 2020, where the sport was included in the Paralympic programme for the first time. But she was keen to be a part of an iconic moment, badminton’s elevation to a Paralympic sport.
“My events were not included in the programme. I was desperate to be part of the history of being in the Games, so I secured a role as a commentator with Para badminton, which was exciting. Now my focus is getting there as an athlete.”
Three years since Tokyo 2020, Choong is delighted to see that the sport’s profile has increased. “It is the fastest sport in the world and doesn’t change because it’s (a) Para (sport).”
“It is awe-inspiring when you see people with different impairments, wheelchairs, prosthetics, dwarfism all using a standard size court at speed.”
Discover more about Para badminton and the sports in the Paris 2024 Paralympic sports programme
