Danny Crates

Former Paralympic gold medallist, World champion, European champion, Paralympic World Cup winner and world record holder, Danny Crates has an amazing story to share.

He has experienced more than most people have in a lifetime. In 1994, aged 21, with a promising rugby career before him, Danny lost his right arm in a horrific accident while travelling in Australia.

Undeterred, Danny returned to rugby, and was the only known arm amputee playing club rugby in the country and received worldwide media attention. He turned his attention to athletics where he was quickly competing with the best in the world in the 400m T46 arm amputee class.

Danny made his international debut in the 1998 World Championships, reaching the 400m final and winning a silver medal in the 4 x 400m relay with a new European record time. By 2000 Danny was becoming established as an international athlete and was narrowly beaten into the bronze medal position in the 400m at the Sydney Paralympics.

He went on to capture the European 400m title in 2001, before making the career-defining decision to concentrate on the 800m – a move which bore instant results as he took both the World indoor and European outdoor titles in 2003.

In 2004 he set a new world record and became Paralympic champion at the Athens games. Danny then set his sights on the 2006 World Championships. After winning that, Danny could claim to have taken gold every major meeting in Paralympic athletics. As he likes to put it, this was “the icing on his career cake.”