Paralympic star Olivia Breen can’t wait to represent Wales at next year’s Commonwealth Games and is hungry for even more success after winning her first individual Paralympic medal in Tokyo this summer.
After taking a well-earned break following a busy summer, the 25-year-old is planning her year ahead as one of Wales’ most consistent and versatile Paralympic athletes.
Breen claimed bronze in the T38 long jump in Japan after previously winning the same colour in the 4x100m relay at London 2012.
She was also world champion in the T38 long jump at the IPC World Championships in 2017, but went into the Paralympics in the shadow of a year disrupted by injury problems.
“I’m over the moon with how it went in Tokyo,” says Breen, whose smile on her face clearly shows how proud she is of her achievements.
“It took a lot of hard work to get in the position to win an individual medal.
“It was my dream to come home from Tokyo with a medal and it’s now happened.”
Breen – who has cerebral palsy and recently helped publicise World Cerebral Palsy Day - is very thankful the Games actually took place given all the restrictions and uncertainty created by the pandemic.
“The delay helped me in a positive way as I was able to work on my weaknesses,” she explains.
“I think it played a big part in helping me get my medal in Tokyo.
“It was a shame we couldn’t have any family or friends out there with us but they were there in spirit.
“It has been lovely since I’ve arrived back as I’ve had a lot of celebrations with all my family and friends.
“I want to embrace the moment, it’s like a once in a lifetime achievement.”
One disappointment for Breen was that she couldn’t see more of Japan due to the requirement for the athletes to be in a bubble.
“I would have loved to have seen more of Japan as we only got see parts of the country when we were travelling on the bus.
“The World Championships are also in Japan next year and a few of us have already mentioned about going to see some parts of the country then.
“The people we did meet out there were all so lovely and very positive.”
