Jonnie Peacock MBE was one of the stars of the London Paralympic Games when the then 19-year-old made history to win the T44 100m. Peacock has won every major medal available with gold at London followed by a repeat four years later at Rio 2016. He is going for his third Paralympic gold medal in Tokyo, competing in the T64 100m and the 4x100m universal relay.

Jonnie was born in Cambridge and at age 5, he contracted meningitis, resulting in the disease killing the tissues in his right leg, which was then amputated just below the knee. Inspired by watching the Beijing Paralympics, he attended a British Paralympic Association talent identification programme soon after and in no time was competing in major events. It was winning the 100m at the London Paralympics 2012 that shot him into the public limelight. 80,000 spectators were there in the stadium that night, screaming and shouting after he had beaten the best athletes in the world, including South African pioneer paralympian Oscar Pretorius, and they were screaming and shouting not because they had been watching disabled people but because they had witnessed a great sporting event.

Jonnie is a good-looking and charismatic guy and has appeared on numerous TV programmes, including BBC One’s ever-popular celebrity dancing show, Strictly Come Dancing. He was also one of the athletes featured in the Netflix documentary film, Rising Phoenix. If you have access to Netflix, I highly recommend it.

I just watched Jonnie’s Blade Camp, a show he made for UK’s Channel 4. In the programme, Jonnie took five children who, like him, were amputees, and aimed to get them running on “blades”, carbon fibre prosthetic limbs. We were told it was the huge success of Britain’s Paralympians at the London 2012 games which encouraged the National Health Service (NHS) to make these “blades” available free of charge to child amputees for the first time. Giving them the confidence to use them properly was the ambition of Peacock’s year-long training programme.

Each kid set their own goal. Harvey, an infectiously cheeky eight-year-old, wanted to do the hurdles. Maise, 12, wanted to play netball with her friends at school. Thomas, 12, aimed to run 5Km in under 40 minutes. Olivia wanted to run 400m without stopping and Mitchell, 15, wanted to play football with his mates. All the kids were looking for confidence in using their blades and the simple desire to be included in normal life, with their friends and families.

Endless Covid lockdowns and restrictions in the UK severely disrupted the training programme, but with expert guidance from Jonnie, other athletes and science, all the kids were able to learn how to train their bodies to use their blades properly and ultimately complete their goals, and in some cases far exceed them. But the one story that really got to me was 14 year old Olivia, who after completing Blade Camp had a new confidence in herself and her prosthetic leg. Prior to the Camp she was embarrassed by her disability but after completing the Camp she chose to roll up her jeans so everyone could see her prosthetic when out in public. It was truly inspiring, and yes, I cried.

So, with the Tokyo Paralympics just about to open, I look forward to more advances towards a society that is inclusive to everyone. And let’s enjoy some more incredible sporting performances.

Jonnie will be racing in the 100m T64. Heats on the evening of Sunday 29 August and the finals at 20:43 Monday 30 August.