Emma Wiggs MBE is one of the most decorated athletes in paracanoeing history.
She won KL2 gold as paracanoeing appeared at the Paralympic Games for the first time at Rio 2016. At Tokyo 2020, she won a second Paralympic gold medal, this time in the VL2 .
In Tokyo, she also went on to claim silver in the KL2 to become the first female athlete to win two Paralympic paracanoe medals at a single Games.
Wiggs secured the 11th world title of her glittering career in Duisburg in 2023, dominating the VL2 final to win gold. She claimed her second medal of the competition in the KL2 with silver taking her career world tally to 16.
Already a four-time European champion and two-time silver medallist, Wiggs won double gold at the event for the first time in 2022. Those performances saw Wiggs achieve her second paracanoe ‘Grand Slam’, holding the Paralympic, European and world titles within the calendar year. Her first paracanoe ‘Grand Slam’ came in 2017 and she was awarded an MBE for services to canoeing in the 2017 New Year Honours.
Wiggs' Paralympic experience isn't limited to paracanoeing. At London 2012 she competed for ParalympicsGB in sitting volleyball. Post-London she embarked on a mission to find a sport that would give her a chance to be the best she could be and found canoeing.
Wiggs grew up in Watford and excelled at hockey. At 18, while on her gap year, she contracted a virus that initially paralysed her and left her with irreparable damaged nerves in her legs.
Despite this life-changing event, Wiggs was determined to pursue her chosen career as a PE teacher; studying sports science and gaining a PGCE in secondary PE.