IN DEPTH WITH... Louise Hunt

A once-in-a-lifetime spectacular, never to be topped.

So ingrained in our imagination, it felt like we lived and breathed every moment of those unforgettable six weeks when the greatest show on earth rolled up onto our shores.

But the truth is, very few of us will know how it truly felt.

Less than 850 of the country’s finest athletes wore the famous blue, red and white kit of Team GB at the Olympics and Paralympics – a little over 0.001 per cent of the population.

One of those lucky few was Wanborough wheelchair tennis player Louise Hunt.

Although she was just 21 at the time, competing on the grandest stage of all was the culmination of a lifelong dream and years of dedication.

“It was amazing. It was something I’d been waiting a really long time for,” said Hunt.

“It was something I’d always dreamt about and always wanted. I think I was 11 years old when I first held a Paralympic medal and thought I want that.

“It was Tanni Grey-Thompson’s and it is quite nice now because I know her on a friend level. She went from being my hero to my friend.

“I always looked up to her and I hope to be able to do that to someone else day.

“And to have my first Games in my home country, how amazing is that? How many people get that opportunity?

“It was very scary and I was absolutely terrified but it was an amazing opportunity. Before my (first) match I was in the players’ area shaking saying 'I can’t do it’.

“My coach was so level-headed and I was so nervous because everyone there wants you to win, which is the scariest part.”

But the road to London was far from smooth.

Hunt, now 23, was born with spina bifida, an incomplete closure of the spinal cord. She has been in a wheelchair her whole life and has little movement and feeling in her lower limbs.

With the support of her loving family, parents Linda and Tim and brother Robert, she refused to let that hold her back.

Hunt said: “I know it’s a cliche but I wouldn’t even be here now if it wasn’t for my family.

“I underwent an eight-hour operation at just three days old, which is obviously a huge risk for a tiny baby, but I pulled through that.

“When I did the doctors actually said it was unlikely I’d survive past a few years old and if I did I’d never be able to sit up or feed myself, or do anything independently.

“But I have the most amazing parents and they ignored that. They had no experience of disability and my mum learned to do her own physio on me and got me how I am now, sitting properly and independent.

“If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here, let alone hitting tennis balls around on the court all day.

“I think you can assume parents are pushy in sport but my parents have never ever been like that, they’ve always just encouraged me to do whatever I want.

“And I’ve had some crazy ideas, I’ve tried everything. I’ve got an older brother too and whatever he’s wanted to do I’ve wanted to try as well.

“Sometimes I’ve failed but that’s fine. That’s what they’ve taught me, try it and if it doesn’t work, does it matter?”

Hunt’s first foray into sports was in wheelchair racing and she still boasts an impressive record of seven London mini wheelchair marathon wins.

But in a bid to make it to the Paralympics she turned her attentions to tennis, a sport which she had played with her family throughout her childhood.

“Racing and tennis went alongside each other for quite a long time but I always knew I wanted to be a Paralympian and wanted to win a medal so I had to pick one,” said Hunt.

“With racing, I loved the competition but hated the training. I always trained my best and did everything to the best of my ability but it didn’t capture me, the competition did but the training didn’t.

“Whereas with tennis I’d be up before school and me and my coach, Ali Ward, would be on court from 6-8am, I’d go to school, come back and train after school. Every second of my time I wanted to play.

“My family have always played for fun and when we moved, when I was five years old, our neighbour had a court in their back garden.

“Mum and dad would go and play and I would go and play around with my brother. Strangely they sold that bit of land but in the same year they built tennis courts opposite my house so we played there.

“One thing I always loved about it, especially when I was young, is that you can play with anybody. I could play with my friends, my family and although I am in a chair it didn’t really make that much of a difference.

“Some sports are harder to integrate but tennis is so easy because it’s the same size court, the same racquet, the same net.”

We can all relate to the analogy of going out and hitting a few tennis balls to vent built-up frustrations but for Hunt that goes deeper, with the sport giving her a sense of freedom from her disability.

“Of course it’s about winning and medals and all those things, but tennis for me is also a huge frustration release because being in a chair can be frustrating,” added Hunt.

“I am completely accepting of my disability and I wouldn’t change it for the world but there are times when it’s frustrating, if there’s a flight of stairs and no lift, things like that.

“With tennis it’s just that release and I have complete freedom. The chairs now are so amazingly made you feel complete freedom and there’s nothing restricting you at all.

“It’s just me and my sport and all the frustrations are only on whether that shot wasn’t good enough, or that serve wasn’t accurate enough.

“The drive for me is being able to compete and play on the same level as anyone else. As soon as I get in my tennis chair I know I can hit with everyone else as long as I have to.”

Having had one taste of the Paralympics, Hunt is now desperate for a second and kicks off her campaign to qualify for Rio 2016 in May.

The top 22 women players in the world in May 2016 meet international qualification criteria for the Games and that should be no problem for Hunt, who is currently ranked 17th.

“Ideally I want to be in the top 15 by the end of the year. I’ve created a gap below me but now I need to jump up,” said Hunt.

“I want to be higher and I won’t be satisfied if I am where I am now. Hopefully I can be top 15 by the end of the year and then a bit higher next year.

“And I want to crack my first top 10 player this year, I’m sick of getting sets, I want the win. There are a few goals but they are more end goals, we just focus on one match at a time.”

The Rio Games will no doubt pick up where London left off and push Paralympic sport further into the public’s consciousness.

And the legacy that London has left is something that makes Hunt particularly proud.

“I do a lot of school visits and before London no one knew what wheelchair tennis was and only half the kids knew what the Paralympics were. That’s not a criticism, it just wasn’t put out there,” said Hunt.

“After London I’d go into schools and they’d know who I was, know who David Weir (Paralympic athlete) was, know all the events at the Paralympics, know everything. It was like I didn’t have anything to say because they already knew everything.

“You’ve gone from people watching saying “didn’t they do well, isn’t it great they’re out there”, to people watching us because we’re athletes and it’s great to watch.

“It happened quite quickly, within the space of four or five years it’s completely converted.

“And in terms of our federations, the funding all increased for Paralympic sport after London, which is amazing. It feels like we’re on the same level as the Olympics.

“A big part of how we saw things had changed was that we used the first venue built specifically for the Paralympics – Eton Manor, which is now Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre. We didn’t use something that the Olympics already had, it was made just for us.

“The Olympic tennis was at Wimbledon and as much as we can play on grass, it’s difficult for our game to be on the best level.

“It was our one chance on the world stage to showcase our sport so they built a venue for us, which was really amazing.

“We all felt honoured that this was the stage we’d got to and I’m so proud and so glad I have been a part of that journey.”

Hunt would like to thank Imagine Cruising, the Tennis Foundation, UK Sport and DC Injury Clinic for their continued support throughout her career.