A superhero-themed sports day dedicated to people with disabilities has been hailed as “fantastic”.
The Superhero Tri event, backed by Marvel and in its eighth year, saw a record 3,300 people with disabilities take part in different sporting challenges, including swimming and cycling, at the 2012 Paralympic rowing venue Dorney Lake in Windsor on Saturday.
Comedian and presenter Adam Hills and Paralympic equestrian gold medallist Sophie Christiansen were a few of the famous faces in attendance, as they took part in the Celebrity Superhero Tri as captains and competed against some of those at the event.
Jenni Williams attended with her husband Steve, who is 49 and a civil servant, and their 12 year-old daughter Eve, who has a rare chromosome condition called 3p25 deletion syndrome which has resulted in her being non-verbal and experiencing intellectual difficulties.
Mrs Williams, 49, who lives with her family in Dorking, Surrey, told the PA news agency: “Our world sort of collapsed when we were given Eve’s diagnosis and particularly hearing how rare it was and we never expected to meet anybody else with that condition.
“We were told it was possibly unlikely Eve would walk and here we are today, about to walk a kilometre.”
Eve donned a pink Captain Marvel T-shirt, with a “tiny tornado” logo on the back to pay homage to a unique nickname she has.
Social media has helped Eve find and befriend others with the condition, including Nancy Taylor, eight, Ellouise Thompson, eight, and Imogen Hully, seven.
The group often reunite at the Superhero Series event – however, Imogen did not take part this year.
“The nickname came about when she started doing the Superhero Tris,” Mrs Williams said.
“She’s the tiny tornado, Nancy became the weenie whirlwind, Imogen is the sassy cyclone and we’ve christened Ellouise lovely lightning because they’re all forces of nature.”
“I always say that Eve hasn’t read the medical textbooks and she has no idea she’s disabled.
“For Eve, life is wonderful – she’s extremely happy, fun-loving and determined and we’ve really hit the jackpot.”
The family have come to the Superhero Tri events since its inception in 2017.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic event and we’re so grateful to Sophia Warner who founded it, to the organisers, to Marvel for sponsoring it,” Mrs Williams said.
“It just shows anyone can be a superhero and has been such an important event for us.
“We were a different family after we finished our first one because we thought, ‘gosh, we can definitely give Eve the life we always intended to give her’.”
She said Eve enjoys attending the event, which provides her with “extra energy” due to crowds cheering her on.
“I think when she was about six, she took her first independent steps at the Superhero Tri,” Mrs Williams added.
Some of Eve’s highlights from the day included being presented with a golden cape by presenter Clare Balding for her ambassadorial work for the Superhero Tri, and participating in a celebrity triathlon with Oliver Pritchard.
Clare Balding was at Dorney Lake reporting and covering the event for the highlights programme which is to be aired on Channel 4 next month.
She told PA: “I think everybody is empowered by both the Olympics just gone and the Paralympics coming up, but this isn’t about elite sport – this is about participation.
“When you remove the barriers to people who have felt excluded from sport and you say, no, you can come, you can make this work, honestly the outcome is beyond your wildest dreams.
“It’s such an impressive event.”
The presenter – who is a fan of Captain Marvel – said it was “lovely” to be able to give a few attendees golden capes to pay homage to the superhero theme.
“There were about eight or nine people selected for golden capes and it was in recognition of what they have done over many years and some of them are only young,” she explained.
“I talked to them up on stage, gave them their capes and most of them then went and did the event in their capes.
“I have to say, credit to Marvel who do support this… and I’m looking across now at one of the golden cape winners actually with her cape over her Captain Marvel outfit and she’s just having the best time.”
The Superhero Tri powered by Marvel at Dorney Lake, Windsor, will air on Channel 4 on Sunday September 15 at 8.45am.
More information can be found via this link: www.superheroseries.co.uk