As a child, Britton was a swimmer and expressed her love for sport. At age 7, she stated she wanted to be a championship swimmer.[4]
In the early 1990s,[3] after being encouraged by her husband to take up something new,[4] Britton first got involved with archery as a social activity following a "have a go" session. Britton took a six-week beginner archery course,[4] and felt she "wasn't any good to start with" at the time. She commented how her disability limits which sports are available to her, but felt archery had members that were unceasingly willing to help and two archery clubs, the Neath Archers and Llantarnam Archery, helped her "feel really included".[4][5]
Britton was a standing archer at the beginning of her archery career, but later started to sit on a stool and then became a wheelchair user. Especially following two major spinal surgeries in the middle of her career.[4]
She competed as part of the Welsh and British archery teams for 15 years, during which she won a place on the podium in six World Championships and 24 international events.[6] She has gained eleven world records during her career,[7] and also represented the Welsh able-bodied team,[5] on more than 20 occasions.[5] Disability archery events she's participated in include the World Para Archery Championship, European Para-Archery Championships and Paralympic Games.[8] During her competitive career she also was a coach and mentor to development squad athletes.[9] Britton was the first para-archery member of the World Archery athletes' committee when her membership began in 2011.[10]
She retired in 2015,[2] following an injury which forced her to retire, and she later moved into a career on managing sport.[9] In the same year, she was re-elected for another term as a para-archery member of the World Archery athletes' committee, with the term lasting until 2019.[11]
In April 2016, Britton claimed British Airways had lost her wheelchair, which she claimed was found in Geneva before returned to Heathrow. Britton said the ordeal left her stranded, as she needed it for her personal independence, and "in tears". She described the situation as "unacceptable" on Twitter.[3][12]
In June 2016, as chair of Disability Sport Wales, she awarded Newport Live and Newport City Council an award recognising Newport's support of disabled people.[2] As of 2023, she lives in Newport.[13] She also served as the director of Elephant in the Room, a company specialising in mentoring services, and disability awareness training for businesses and schools.[3]
As of August2023[update], she is a member of the Sports Honours Committee, International Paralympic Committee, British Paralympic Association Classification Advisory Group, and the board of UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), the latter of which she was formerly its vice-chair.[7] Britton is an alumnus of the UK Sport International Leadership Programme. Britton was chair of Disability Sport Wales, and formerly a member of the Archery GB board and Sport Wales Elite Sport Sub Group.[6][7]
She is also currently a trustee at UWC Atlantic College, and was appointed and commenced as a board member of the Charity Commission Wales in September 2022.[15][16] In October 2022, she stepped-down from her role as vice-chair of the UKAD board.[17]
The 2004 Summer Paralympics, the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece from 17 to 28 September 2004. 3,808 athletes from 136 countries participated. During these games 304 World Records were broken with 448 Paralympic Games Records being broken across 19 different sports. 8,863 volunteers worked along the Organizing Committee.
Carys Davina Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson,, known as Tanni Grey-Thompson, is a Welsh life peeress, television presenter and former wheelchair racer.
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Priya Naree Cooper, is an Australian world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships. She competed in the Australian swimming team at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics with an S8 classification. She was twice the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team, including at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, and carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics. Cooper has cerebral palsy and spends much of her time in a wheelchair. She attended university, working on a course in health management. After she ended her competitive Paralympic career, she became a commentator, and covered the swimming events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
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Eleanor May Simmonds, OBE is a British former Paralympian swimmer who competed in S6 events. She came to national attention when she competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, winning two gold medals for Great Britain. She was the youngest member of the team, at the age of 13.
Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian teams that participate at the Summer Paralympics and the Winter Paralympics.
The 2010 Winter Paralympics Torch Relay was a 10-day event leading up to the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver. It began on March 3, 2010, in Ottawa and concluded at the Games' opening ceremony on March 12. Held entirely within Canada, the host country, it has been described by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as "an important event to connect Canadians to the Games", by "demonstrating the fire inside each individual and how it inspires others".
Danielle Brown MBE is a British competitive archer and award winning children's author. She has competed in the Paralympic Games winning gold medals in Beijing and London and has also won medals shooting in the able bodied category including the Commonwealth Games.
Francis Ettore Ponta was an Australian Paralympic competitor and coach. He competed in several sports including basketball, pentathlon, swimming and fencing. A paraplegic, he lost the use of both his legs after a tumour was removed from his spinal column when he was a teenager. Ponta was a member of Australia's first national wheelchair basketball team, and is credited with expanding the sport of wheelchair basketball in Western Australia. At the end of his competitive career, he became a coach, working with athletes such as Louise Sauvage, Priya Cooper, Madison de Rozario, Bruce Wallrodt and Bryan Stitfall. He died on 1 June 2011 at the age of 75 after a long illness.
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Para-archery classification is the classification system for para-archery used to create a level playing field for archers with a different range of disabilities. Governance in the sport is through the International Archery Federation. Early classification systems for the sport were created during the 1940s and based on medical classification. This has subsequently changed to a functional mobility classification with the exception of blind archery.
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Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. Australia repeated its 2012 Summer Paralympics achievement in finishing fifth of the medal tally.
Greece competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places the team qualified were for three athletes in sailing events.
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