Rachel Morris

At her first Paralympic Games as a rower, Rachel Morris took gold in the women’s single sculls with a time of 5:13.69, ahead of China’s Wang Lili (5:16.65) and Israel’s reigning world champion Moran Samuel (5:17.46).

Rio 2016 was Morris’s third Paralympics but first in a boat. Competing in cycling, she won time trial gold at Beijing 2008 and bronze in the women’s road race at London 212. Morris wanted a new challenge so she switched to rowing in 2013.

One year later, she finished second at a World Cup in Aiguebelette, France, and fifth at the World Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Morris underwent successful shoulder surgery in April 2015 but recovered in time to place fourth at a World Cup in Varese, Italy. She steadily found her way back, taking silver at the 2015 World Championships 1.10 seconds behind the winner, Israel’s Moran Samuel.

Morris had both legs amputated due to complications of chronic regional pain syndrome.