Stef Reid made a drastic change after winning bronze at Beijing - and switched allegiances.
The inspiriting athlete came in third place in the women's 200m T44 event at the 2008 Paralympics while representing Canada.
But four years later, Stef was competition for Team GB in the London games and got silver in the Long jump F44, an achievement she matched at the following Paralympics at Rio 2016.
Stef could actually have competed for three different countries, as she was born in New Zealand to British parents.
Her Scottish father, from Glasgow, and English mother, from Scarborough, moved the family to Toronto in Ontario, Canadawhen Stef was four-years-old.
It was while staying with a friend and her family at their lakeside cottage in Canada that she came flying off an inflatable ring that was being pulled by a boat.
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There was a miscommunication between the driver and spotter which meant they didn’t see Stef, so she dived down into the water and was nearly cut in half by the propeller.
Stef, then aged 15, was rushed to hospital and had her foot amputated in a life-saving operation.
After struggling to pray rugby again with her prosthetic limb, Stef started taking part in track and field and competed at the World Championships for Canada.
After winning bronze in Beijing, Stef was given the opportunity to train and competed with the better-funded and more successful British squad.
Stef, who is married to Canadian wheelchair racing athlete Brent Lakatos, felt drawn to Team Gb because of her parents.
Admitting she doesn’t expect people to believe her, Stef told The Guardian in 2012: "No one's going to take me on face value if I say it was my calling, I felt loyal. I never give that answer, regardless of its truth.
“Instead, I just address the reasons people think I came over. One, that it's easier to make the British team. I was a world record holder. I would have made either team.
“Then people say you're trying to cash in – it's the Paralympics, we're not in it because we're going to make money. If I'd wanted to make money I'd have become a plastic surgeon in LA specialising in breast enhancement.
“I’m in this for excellence, and Britain did have the best infrastructure. They went around the world and hunted the best coaches."
Stef was thrilled to be part of the home team at London 2012 and continued to live in Dallas while training regularly in the UK.
She said: "UKA has committed to excellence in both Paralympic and Olympic programmes with facilities, coaching and support to back it up.
"I am excited to experience being part of the home team in London 2012, ironically I will have a larger cheer in the crowd here than where I grew up as all my extended family is British!"
Stef isn’t the only incredible Paralympian in the family, as husband Brent was just six-years-old when he fell over while playing ice hockey and the impact caused a blood clot to form on his spine.
He was “lucky to survive” the horror accident and was left paralysed - then got into sport by playing wheelchair basketball.
Brent won a staggering 11 medals at three Paralympic Games as a T53 wheelchair racer, including a gold in the 100m at Rio 2016.
The 41-year-old Canadian also won the London Marathon in 2020 with an incredible time of 1:36:04.
Brent, who lives in the UK with Stef, must find it hard watching his wife skate on the ice, particularly considering she had a nasty fall early on in the training process.
When Stef broke the news she was taking part in Dancing on Ice, she said: "He did kind of roll his eyes and say, ‘Stefanie, you’re nuts’, but he kind of thought that anyway."
Brent added: "But that’s also why I fell in love with you because you’re ridiculous and think you can do anything – good on you, go for it."
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