30 April, 2025
Paralympian Rachel Choong has expressed her pride after a new study by Women in Sport found that 80% of disabled girls were inspired by the 2024 Paralympic Games.
Choong praised Badminton England’s commitment to helping disabled people get involved in sport, despite the study also showing that access and inclusion to sport still lags behind the visibility at the elite end.
The study found that while 67% of disabled girls said that the Paralympics “made me want to be more active and play more sport”, only 36% of disabled girls dream of reaching the top.
That compares to 61% of disabled boys who dream of reaching the elite level, a similar gender disparity to non-disabled children (39% of non-disabled girls compared to 64% of non-disabled boys).
Choong feels privileged to be part of a generation of para athletes working to change those figures by providing representation at the elite level.
“It makes me feel so proud that I can be a part of that. I can be part of this generation of athletes that are inspiring disabled people into sport,” she reflected.
“As athletes, we are quite selfish in the sense that we want to achieve these incredible things, and we’re very selfish in how we try to get there.
“But knowing that what we’re doing is inspiring people to participate in sport is a very lovely positive to come from it, which doesn’t feel so selfish.
“It’s disappointing to hear that [there is a gender disparity]. I hope that the more disabled girls can see what they can achieve on the telly or in the news, I hope it does shift.
“I would like to see that gap between the boys and the girls close a little bit.”
Rachel Choong competes at the Paris 2024 Paralympics (Credit: Craig Burgess/Badminton Photo)
Choong herself first started playing badminton at six years old, following in the footsteps of her parents and sister who were keen players themselves.
She felt lucky to have received that support in sport at a young age and to be encouraged to pursue badminton.
“They wanted me to get stuck in,” recalled Choong.
“At that age, I was a lot smaller than my peers but there was just so much encouragement from my coach and my family, and I just loved it so much that I just wanted to play.”
Though as Choong progressed in the game, she did find barriers to reaching the top level with a lack of pathway for para athletes to reach the elite level.
Women in Sport found that accessibility remains an issue across all sport with 44% of disabled girls saying there are not enough local opportunities for them, compared to 35% of disabled boys.
“When I started, there was no funding, there was no support, there was no structure, and it was all ourselves that were doing it. That was difficult,” explained Choong.
“I had to get a full-time job in the working world to help fund my badminton, which was essentially a hobby.
“I had to take time off work for tournaments. I couldn’t take time off to actually train because I’d used all my annual leave. It was a very tricky balancing act, but it’s nice to see that now there is a pathway.”
Badminton England are at the forefront of efforts to change these statistics and are intent on improving accessibility through their Disability Action Plan, which is focused on increasing the number of disabled people playing badminton.
It means there is now a strong pathway for para badminton players to progress while Badminton England also work to embed inclusive practice throughout the sport.
Those efforts are clearly visible to the likes of Choong, who knows the importance of having coaches who understand and can provide support for disabled athletes.
“Badminton England are doing a fantastic job at understanding the importance of getting disabled people involved in sports,” she said.
“It’s great that they are really pushing to educate coaches so that more local clubs can involve disabled people in the sport.
“I was lucky to have a coach that didn’t see my disability as a barrier to me when I was getting involved. That was massive for me.
“It’s all about coaches and people being adaptable to make sessions more inclusive for disabled people. Badminton England understand that.
“The more we do that, the more we promote our sport and our para athletes, the more disabled people come to our sport.
“Since Tokyo 2020, it’s really taken off. Hopefully there’s more to come.”
Featured photo credit: Craig Burgess/Badminton Photo
