Williams suffered her first spinal cord injury during a horse riding accident almost 20 years ago, which left her a tetraplegic, but she refused to let it beat her. She established the Catwalk trust in 2005, which has raised millions of dollars to fund research into medical solutions for those in a similar position. Family spokeswoman Angela Irving said Williams “continued to make great progress” after the spinal cord surgery at Christchurch Hospital in the days after the recent accident. Williams was transferred to Burwood Hospital for further recuperation and was “already zipping around in her power chair”. “The specialists are rapt with her progress. It s very much business as usual in terms of being in touch with friends, family and the SCI (spinal cord injury) community,” Irving said.
Hosts Poland enjoy success on first day of IBU Open European Championships Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Poland enjoyed home success on the opening day of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój.
Monika Hojnisz-Staręga triumphed in the women’s 15-kilometre individual event for the host nation.
Hojnisz-Staręga achieved a time of 45min 17.1sec to triumph in the opening race of the European Championships, with the 29-year-old receiving one penalty.
The Polish athlete has now secured two European Championship gold medals in her career, having won the pursuit competition back in 2013.
Ukraine’s Anastasiya Merkushyna finished as the runner-up after ending 2.9 behind the winner, after shooting clean during the event.