We caught up with T54 paralympic athlete, Eden Rainbow–Cooper. Eden scooped a silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games marathon and recently became the first British woman to win the 2024 Boston Marathon. Success hasn’t always come easy for the Team England-medallist and marathon history-maker, though. Here, we find out how she embraces the noise to turn barriers into breakthroughs.
Exploring setbacks in parasports
Prejudice, a lack of parasport role models and Eden’s powerful mindset.
“Maybe I don’t look like an athlete to some people, but let me show you that I am”
Eden Rainbow-Cooper has overcome many hurdles on her journey to sporting success – the first being a lack of parasport role models and the resulting feelings of isolation. Before she found her community, Eden describes feelings of not fitting in with her able-bodied school friends. “I’d be trying to play football or trying to run around a track and it just didn’t work for me, so I had no interest in sport whatsoever. I didn’t feel like I fit into that space”, she says.
Next, came disability discrimination from outsiders. Throughout her early years, she tells us: “Any mention of my disability was cast in a negative light”. Eden recalls a time when she was asked about her career plans at school: “I said ‘I want to be an athlete’. I was already racing at a high level at that time. The response was ‘I don’t think you really look like an athlete’”. This negative talk set alight Eden’s determination to prove parasport prejudice wrong. “I thought ‘you have no idea what I’m capable of. Maybe I don’t look like an athlete to some people, but let me show you that I am”, she tells us.
Key takeaway: Don’t let anyone define what you’re capable of.
Turning barriers into breakthroughs
Embracing the noise, rejecting limitations and finding a supportive sporting community.
“If someone tells you that you’re better off sitting on the sidelines, don’t listen. Go and do it anyway”
Isolation and discrimination led to a mindset shift for Rainbow-Cooper, who later realised that achieving her sporting dreams meant overthrowing those limiting stereotypes. “When I realised that limitations are someone else’s views being imposed on me – rather than what I know I’m capable of – my whole life changed”, says Eden.
This refreshing response to criticism brought about a serious boost in confidence for Rainbow-Cooper. “It very much changed the narrative in my head. I transformed into a loud, proud, confident version of myself. This allowed me to try new things without worrying what people would think”. And so, Eden set about embracing the negative noise – and using it as an opportunity to prove judgemental people wrong.
Building connections in her parasporting community became another game-changing element in her quest for success. Eden describes her first experience of wheelchair racing: “It was the first time I saw role models who looked like me and they were thriving. I went from being the only disabled kid, into a huge group of people, all in wheelchairs and all with disabilities”. Seeing other sports-people with similar struggles and impressive achievements, inspired her to open up to new experiences, without the fear of embarrassment. “Realising that there are other people like me, inspired me to experience everything, without worrying about the outcome”, she says.
Key takeaway: Build connections within a community of people who face the same – or similar – setbacks to you. You’ll support each other.
Ongoing challenges and paralympic plans
Eden Rainbow-Cooper on the challenging realities of wheelchair athletics – and turning them into gold
“The downs are outweighed by the ups – and without them both, I wouldn’t be the athlete I am today”
Even today, as a paralympic champion, life isn’t always easy after medal-winning victory for Rainbow-Cooper. Whilst embracing her achievements, she acknowledges the continuing setbacks faced by wheelchair athletes, including the financial toll of funding the equipment. “To get a pair of tyres, we’re talking £150, at least. You can go through tires around two-to-three times a month, so that’s a huge boundary for wheelchair racing participants”, she explains. “I was lucky enough to fundraise for my new chair but I’m already looking at my next one. Trying to find the money is a constant battle”.
Rainbow-Cooper highlights health struggles as another obstacle in parasports. She uses Covid as an example. “I got covid really badly”, she explains, “and that was a massive step back for me. When I returned to sport, I was a complete beginner again, regardless of the fact I’d been training for nine years!” Even so, Eden once again embraced the noise of her health troubles and turned her health setback into a comeback. “That was the stepping stone to this marathon adventure. It was a case of getting back into shape and making sure I’m healthy again. That challenge turned into a marathon”.
Eden refers to the Boston Marathon, where she won. “Boston was undoubtedly the best day in my racing career. All that hard work I’d put in was worth it. It’s led to a hunger to feel that sense of achievement again”. Proving that overcoming the odds to make great achievements is possible (and highly addictive), the next stop for Eden is the paralympics. “I’ll be on the start line with eight other girls who have won marathon majors. I want this to continue into my future, where hopefully I can win many more”. From being told she doesn’t look like an athlete to being an elite paralympic athlete, we can only imagine what Rainbow-Cooper will achieve next.
Key takeaway: Don’t lose hope in turbulent times – focus on turning the setback into a come-back.
