Five Calderdale sporting stars to look out for in the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics

Hannah Cockroft

Probably needs no introduction to most people in Calderdale, Hannah is a seven-time Paralympic gold medallist and has won 16 world championship medals, setting countless world records in her career as well as being made an MBE in 2013. She will be competing in the T34 100m and 800m events, the finals of which take place on Sunday, September 1 and Saturday, September 7.

Max Burgin

Bursting onto the scene in 2022, Max became UK champion but at the World Championships in Eugene, a blood clot in his calf left him unable to compete and he went on to endure a spell in a mobility scooter.

Achilles problems persisted through 2023 but, back to full fitness, he booked a place in Paris by finishing second in a highly competitive men’s 800m at the UK Championships. The men’s 800m final takes place on Saturday, August 10.

Harry Brown

Paris will be Harry’s third Paralympics after Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 where the squad won bronze at both events. The GB men’s wheelchair basketball team will be looking to make history in Paris by securing their first ever gold medal. If they get all the way to the final, they’ll be going for gold on Saturday, September 7.

Megan Shackleton

Todmorden-born Megan made her Paralympic debut at Tokyo in 2021, winning team bronze with Sue Bailey (Gilroy). Injury then ruled her out of the 2022 World Championships, but in 2023 she was back at the Europeans, combining with Jack Hunter-Spivey to take silver in the class 10 mixed doubles.

Megan started 2024 with gold in the women’s class 4 singles in the USA, Brazil and Kazakhstan. A further gold medal followed in Poland. The table tennis competition starts at the Paralympics on Thursday, August 29, continuing until Saturday, September 7.

Luke Whitehouse

Gymnast Whitehouse grew up idolising Max Whitlock – now the pair are heading to Paris as part of the same Olympic team.

The 22-year-old from Halifax is one of three male gymnasts making his Olympic debut for Team GB this summer having burst on to the scene over the course of this cycle.

Whitehouse crosses the Channel as a back-to-back European floor champion, retaining his title in April after stepping in as an eleventh-hour replacement for Whitlock. The gymnastics gets underway on Saturday, July 27 and continues until Monday, August 5.