Entertainment
Strictly Come Dancing star admits they are ‘struggling’ in concerning health update-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro
They were uncertain they’d be able to compete at the Paris Paralympic Games too.
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Former Strictly Come Dancing star Lauren Steadman has revealed she is ‘struggling’ with ongoing health issues.
The 31-year-old athlete has competed in four Summer Paralympics, in both swimming and the paratriathlon, previously picking up a silver medal for the Women’s PT4 at the 2016 Games in Rio and a gold medal in the Women’s PTS5 at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
This week she also secured a bronze medal for Team GB in the Women’s PTS5 triathlon at the Paris Paralympics, bursting into tears when crossing over the finish line.
However, when appearing on Good Morning Britain following her achievement, Lauren, who appeared on Strictly in 2018, said long Covid was continuing to affect her.
In March she tested positive to coronavirus and was not cleared to race again by doctors until last week.
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‘It’s the pinnacle of every athlete’s career to get the gold medal, but what it took from my soul to just get to the games and onto the line…I wasn’t sure if I was going to cross that line…and the emotion that came over me was so strong,’ she explained.
Paralympian Lauren Steadman has revealed she is struggling with symptoms of long Covid (Picture: Zac Goodwin/ PA Wire)
‘This medal represents having belief in myself I could still be there.’
When asked if she had fully recovered after catching covid six months ago, Lauren said she was facing ongoing challenges.
‘Yeah, I’m really struggling. Six months ago, I was doing five kilometres, and my heart rate was up in the 180s,’ she explained.
‘It was devastating, the days in bed and you mentioned defending champion, it’s not how you want to go into a games.
The athlete previously appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 (Picture: PA)
‘So, for me, (it was about) readjusting my expectations of what it would look like. I just wanted to cross that line and make everyone proud.’
She added: ‘We’re still recovering, still have Europeans and Worlds this year. But you can only do what you have on the day, so I was chuffed.’
Lauren competed on season 16 of Strictly, where she was paired with professional dancer AJ Pritchard. They made it to the semi-final but were eliminated by Ashley Roberts and Pasha Kovalev in the dance-off.
Speaking about her casting on the series, Lauren previously said it helped change people’s perceptions of her disability.
She was paired with pro dancer AJ Pritchard (Picture: BBC/ Guy Levy)
‘Before, kids and adults would look at me and see my arm first before they saw me,’ she told BBC Look East in 2019.
‘Whereas now they don’t even see my arm – it’s been normalised – and it’s just “that’s Lauren” and “Lauren, you’re doing amazing”.
‘I think that’s how it should be, and it’s just really lovely to be able to inspire everyone and show them that anything’s possible.’
She then went on to compete in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins in 2020, passing the selection process alongside DJ Locksmith.
Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday, September 14, to the BBC. BBC Breakfast airs weekdays from 6am on BBC One.
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