Penarth woman's Paralympics treat (From Penarth Times)

Penarth woman's Paralympics treat

8:50am Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News

A PENARTH woman who volunteered at the Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958 headed to London to attend the Paralympics.

Margaret Davies, of Erw'r Delyn Close, watched a range of events at the Olympic Stadium on Friday, August 31, after her daughter bought her tickets for the prestigious sporting event in London.

Margaret was lucky enough to see the world record broken in the discus and the long jump, as well as seeing British wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft win gold in the Women's 100metre T34 category.

"It was something very special," said Margaret, who featured in the Penarth Times during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, having also been to London for the Coronation.

"We were quite close to the Paralympic flame too and it was fantastic to see that.

"We had a fantastic view of the stadium."

She added: "We saw the British girl Hannah win the gold medal in the wheelchair racing and we saw them break the world record for the long jump too."

Margaret went with three of her children, her daughter's fiance and two of her grandchildren.

The 69-year-old also saw Russia's Alexey Ashapatov win gold in the discus with a world record distance.

"He had already broken the record twice and when it was his last throw he knew he had a gold medal, but to see him still throw it over 60m was amazing," she said.

As a 15-year-old Margaret had volunteered with the Red Cross as part of the Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958.

"I was able to go to the Empire Pool and watch Brian Phelps compete in the diving," she said.

"I collected signatures from the swimmers on a scarf and my granddaughter recently took it into her school in London to show everyone."