British Paralympian Alice Tai says she is “so proud” of her recovery from some of the “worst” moments in her mental health, prior to her recent gold and bronze medal success at the Paralympic games.

The 25-year-old, who was born in Poole, won her first individual Paralympic title on Saturday as Great Britain’s swimmers claimed three gold medals within 40 minutes.

After an emotional moment on the podium with her gold medal, Tai reflected back to the Rio Paralympics and the journey she has been on since.

In 2016, despite winning gold in the 4x100m medley, the swimmer revealed that it was one of her lowest points as she struggled with undiagnosed ADHD.

“I’m not going to lie, Rio sucked,” Tai told BBC Sport.

“My mental health was the worst it’s ever been and I didn’t want to be there, I didn’t want to be alive to be honest.

“To have made such a recovery in my mental health and to have so much surgery over the last three years, I’m so proud of myself and so thankful to the team that support me.”

Tai was born with clubfoot and in 2022 had an operation where her right leg was amputated from below the knee because of pain and discomfort.

Over the weekend, she won gold in the S8 100m backstroke in a Paralympic record time of one minute 9.06 seconds.

She also picked up bronze in the SM8 200m individual medley on Sunday.

“For me the biggest thing about being a Paralympian is being able to advocate for disability,” she said.

“I really want to break the stigma for my disability, just being here is doing that and I’m so privileged to be able to do that.

“I really hope that other people with disabilities, who might be a bit self conscious, can watch the Paralympics and see someone like them and the next day wake up with a bit more confidence in themselves.”

Tai will go again in three more events as she competes in the 400m freestyle on Wednesday, the 50m freestyle on Thursday and the 100m butterfly on Saturday.

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