Para powerlifter Britney Arendse ready for lift-off in Paris

Para powerlifter Britney Arendse performed to the best of her abilities in Tokyo 2020 and is hopeful that replicating personal best form in Paris could elevate her to a podium position in her second Paralympic Games.

Born in South Africa, Arendse moved to Cavan at the age of five with her parents.

A car accident in 2009 that resulted in a spinal cord injury took her down a different path. Sport became more than just a coping mechanism, it was essential to her general wellbeing.

"I just wanted to stay fit and active. Being in a wheelchair, you need to be staying fit and active," she tells RTÉ Sport.

She cast the net wide - basketball, badminton, table tennis and swimming were among the sports she tried - but the road to powerlifting was one of pure chance, recruited to the sport during a wheelchair basketball match.

A tentative trip to the Irish Wheelchair Association in Clontarf opened up a new world, and while the Paralympic Games were nowhere near the radar, the disciplined routine immediately appealed to the focused teenager.

"It's a strict diet and training every day," she says, "and it does you good mentally as well. You're focused when it comes to competition and everything."

The first steps were to improve strength and increase weight. Theoretically a sound approach, but not as straight forward for a Junior Certificate student.

"The change in diet and routine was immense because I was still in school. I had to bring my food in with me because I couldn't have the pizza, the sausage rolls in the canteen.

"Kids would be staring at me and laughing at me, believe it or not, because I brought in tuna salad. They'd be like, 'the smell of that' - childish things, but I'd be like, 'listen, that's my life now healthier eating'.

"It