Herefordshire paralympian Josie Pearson selected for Great Britain for London 2012 (From Hereford Times)

Herefordshire paralympian Josie Pearson selected for Great Britain for London 2012

1:00pm Friday 13th July 2012 in Sport

JOSIE Pearson will be representing Great Britain at her second Paralympics — and she’s set her sights on the podium.

The 26-year-old said she was ecstatic after being named in the British Paralympic Association athletics line-up on Tuesday.

“When I found out I was ecstatic,” said Josie, who lives in Cusop, and is ranked no.1 in the world for the women’s discus.

“Words couldn’t describe how I felt. It was also a bit of a relief.

“The first people I told were my mum and dad. It means so much because I have worked so hard for this.”

The Herefordshire athlete will be flying out to a GB training camp in Portugal on August 2 and competing in London on September 1 and 7.

She will be joining fellow Herefordshire stars, swimmers Sascha and Nyree Kindred, and shooter James Bevis, at London 2012.

The Hereford-based GB Blind Football squad will also be competing at the Games.

Josie said: “I have been training once or twice a day for five or six days a week.

“I didn’t expect to get into the squad. I had a good season and achieved the world record so I knew I stood a good chance. But I feel my hard work has been rewarded so it’s great.”

Four years ago in Beijing, Josie was the first female to represent GB at a Paralympic Games in the sport of wheelchair rugby.

She has competed in wheelchair racing, representing her country at the 2011 IPC World Championships in New Zealand.

But Josie turned her attention to throwing events after being diagnosed with a syrinx on her spine. She’s now focusing on the discus and the club, in which she is ranked third in the world.

“Being ranked third I hope to get into the top three with the club and get a medal,” she said.

“In the discus, I want to retain my number one spot and win the gold. I know I can throw the world record so I will try and do that and hopefully that will win it for me.

“I know my events are both in the morning so I will just go about my daily routine as usual.”

Josie was paralysed from the waist down following a car accident in 2003. Just a year later she watched the Paralympics on television and aspired to compete in them.

There will be little respite for Josie after London 2012. “As soon as it’s finished I will be back in training for the World Championships in Lille,” she added.