Sprinter Libby Clegg had more than Paralympic glory in mind when she pushed herself for a silver medal — she also could not stand to be beaten by her little brother.
Last night she broke the European record to match the 200 metre T-12 medal she won in Beijing, moments after her younger brother, 18-year-old swimmer James, won bronze in the 100m butterfly S-12.
Both have a congenital condition that causes their eyesight to deteriorate.
Libby, 22, said she was spurred on by the news about her brother, which was announced just moments before her 100m T-12 race with her sighted guide runner Mikail Huggins.
Clegg said: “It lifted me to know my brother had done really well, I’m so proud of him. But it had to be done because I couldn’t have my little brother beating me.”
Libby, a former tap and modern ballet dancer, trains for six days a week and lives in Loughborough after moving from Scotland.
Libby, James and their brother Stephen, 16, have the condition but their sister, Felicity, 20, has full sight.
Their mother Moira, 49, a support worker for disabled adults, and father Peter, 45, a printer, cheered her on in the stadium.
Mrs Clegg said she refused to “wrap them up in cotton wool” as children, adding: “You’re not doing them any favours.”
