Sammi is a World Champion Racer and TV presenter and is the fastest female British wheelchair racer of all time.
In December 2010 Kinghorn was crushed by snow and ice which fell from the roof at the family farm breaking her back. She was instantly paralysed from the waist down and undertook her rehabilitation at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit in Glasgow. While in the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southern General Hospital her physiotherapist took her to Stoke Mandeville Stadium to take part in the WheelPower Inter Spinal Games where she was able to try out a variety of wheelchair sports, leading to her taking up wheelchair racing.
Kinghorn is part of the Glasgow disability sports club Red Star, where she is coached by Ian Mirfin MBE. She is classified as a T53 para-athlete and is the fastest ever female British wheelchair racer regardless of classification over 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m.
Sammi’s first official race was the 2012 London Mini Marathon where she came 2nd. A a plethora of success followed with multiple European and World championship medals, including six golds and two silvers. She’s also gone on to set multiple records in the 100m and 200m.
In 2017 Sammi was named Scottish sportsperson of the year, making history as the first para athlete to take the award and she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to disability sport.
In 2023, Kinghorn began her career in television by appearing as a presenter on BBC’s Countryfile.
Sammi will take on the 100m, 400m, and 800m T53 in the upcoming Paris games.
