WHEN Keira Byland was in primary school she self-harmed, had eating issues and no confidence or self-esteem.

Today, at 20 and with a diagnosis of various disabilities, Keira is a Special Olympics GB athlete and triple gold medallist in cycling.

Next week (July 13) she is off to Paris to represent England in the INAS (International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability)World Cycling Championships in Paris.

Sport arrived in the life of Keira, who lives in Bromley Cross with supportive parents Jacqui and Brian, when she was 12. It proved a life-saver and she has never looked back.

Keira has several learning disabilities including numeracy, time-reading, dyscalculia (maths learning disability) and dyspraxia which makes it hard to plan and control physical movements.

But, she threw herself into swimming and cycling, winning three gold medals in the Special Olympics in 2015. She followed this up with three silver medals in 2017 – all against male opposition.

As well as numerous top sporting titles, she now holds a clutch of official positions in the world of Special Olympics nationally and internationally. Perhaps even more remarkably, Keira volunteers each week to teach children in the three to four age-group in local primary schools and nurseries how to use Strider Balance Bikes to help them progress to riding a bike.

She is a coach for cycling and swimming and a Strider and Greater Sport Ambassador. She coaches at a dedicated disability hub through British Cycling once a month and coaches swimming at the North-west’s Special Olympics’ swim club Cheshire Penguins.

She does it because, as she explained: “I love to see other people succeeding, doing things they didn’t think they could do and having fun.” Unsurprisingly, she recently received a 2018 Inspire Award for Sporting Achievement in the prestigious Bolton awards.

She currently attends Bolton College where she is taking a BTEC Level 3 in sport and plans to be an Olympic Ambassador, public speaker and sports coach.

She is looking forward to her trip to Paris – “It’s going to be really exciting” – and next March is off to the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.

Caption 1: Keira Byland with three gold medals she won for cycling at the Special Olympics

Caption 2: A determined Keira Byland in action