IT might have caused other athletes to have a meltdown but Scot Melanie Woods gracefully agreed to a re-run of a race where she had already won Commonwealth Gold.
The 32-year-old not only accepted the decision without quibbling but returned to win again in an even faster time, breaking a Games record.
Her exemplary conduct is one reason she was named the outstanding athlete of Glasgow 2026 and she has now been nominated for the Rising Star award in the UK-wide Variety Disability Sports Awards.
Woods found out the news of her new nomination as she prepared for surgery on her hands last week to correct carpal tunnel syndrome, possibly exacerbated by her sport of wheelchair racing.
She took it up after being knocked down by a car when out cycling in 2018, an accident which left her with spinal cord trauma resulting in paralysis from the waist down.
Previously very active, she passed the time in hospital watching all the televised sporting events, including para sport which she saw with a new perspective.
“Before I was injured, I never knew anyone with a disability or what life in a wheelchair looked like so I was watching these people do pretty cool things and it opened up a whole new world to me,” she told the Sunday National.
Woods went along to a club in Glasgow almost as soon as she was released from hospital but found the sport much tougher than she had anticipated.
“It was so hard,” she said. “Racing chairs are really uncomfortable and it does feel quite alien at first. I was watching the others go round slowly to warm up and I was struggling to even put two pushes together.”
Some might have given up at that point but Woods’s struggles to get going only made her more determined to succeed.
“I think that’s what kind of got me hooked,” she said. “I realised I couldn’t get any worse so I just thought I would see how good I could get.”
Woods was also inspired by athletes like Sammi Kinghorn who were competing at the Paralympic level.
“She had been on a very similar journey to me and I just thought that if she could do it so could I,” said Woods. “There was definitely a part of me that thought, ‘OK, I can do this’.”
What began as a way to find purpose and excitement again in life, quickly grew into something much bigger, with the former teacher reaching her first Paralympic games just two years after starting the sport.
In 2024, she finished sixth place in both the 400m and 800m at the Paris Paralympics, leaving her determined to achieve more. This she managed in Glasgow this summer when she won two gold medals in front of the home crowd.
“A home Games is a thing an athlete dreams of, so it was fantastic to have family and friends and everyone that’s been on this journey with me, there celebrating. It was just a super special moment,” said Woods.
However the event could have been ruined for her after a crash in her initial race, the women’s T54 1500m which she won in a Commonwealth Games record of 3:33.39.
The collision in the opening lap brought down several athletes and the subsequent appeals led to the result being voided and the entire race being held again.
Despite losing a gold medal, Woods believed she had already secured, she accepted the decision and remained respectful towards her competitors, officials and the appeals process.
Less than 40 hours later, she returned to the track, took the lead after 100 metres and finished in 3:32.20, lowering the Games record she had set in the original race.
“Luckily I managed to win it a second time round, otherwise I think I’d be pretty heartbroken,” Woods said.
Ninety minutes later, she returned for the 400m heats and qualified fastest for the final. She then won the title the following evening to claim her second gold medal of the Games and complete a remarkable double on home soil.
Her composure throughout led her to win the David Dixon Award which recognises what an athlete achieves, how they conduct themselves and what they contribute to their team.
Woods is also delighted to have been nominated for the Rising Star award but will not be at the ceremony in London next week as she will still be recovering from her hand surgery.
She is hoping to return to training as soon as possible as she has her sights set on the World Para Athletics Championships next year and the Paralympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I want to be on the podium,” said Woods. “I’ve been to two Paralympics now, which is crazy in such a short space of time and I feel like I’ve got quite a lot more to give.”
She hopes that she can inspire others the way people like Sammi Kinghorn have inspired her.
“I definitely want to encourage people to try new things and find a sport that that they enjoy and that they can get something out of,” said Woods.
“I’ve always been a huge advocate for physical activity and I hope others, with or without disabilities, can see what I’ve achieved and be inspired to set their own ambitious goals.”
