Suffolk Paralympian wants the Paralympics to be as popular as the Olympics
"Not everybody is aware that it's an elite sports competition"
A Paralympian from Ipswich says she wants to see more coverage and awareness of the Paralympics, to raise its profile and make it as popular as the Olympics.
The games are underway in Paris, with top athletes from around the globe competing - including hundreds representing ParalympicsGB.
29-year-old Evie Edwards previously competed in the sport Boccia, which she told us is similar to the sport Bowls but played with softer balls.
She took her talents to Rio and Toyko before deciding to retire in 2022 but not before collecting four golds, five silvers and three bronzes at World and European levels.
We asked her how she feels the public perception of the Paralympics is changing,
She told us she feels public perception of the Paralympics is slowly changing, but that many still don't believe it has the same prestige as the Olympics: "A lot of the time people call me an Olympian and they don't actually get that I am a Paralympian and it's a different thing.
"Not everybody is aware that it's an elite sports competition.
"I think sometimes people think 'oh if you're disabled and you want to do sport you can just go to the Paralympics' and there's not quite that understanding - just like in non-disabled sport you've got to train, you've got to compete, and only the very top few will get there."
We asked her what she thinks needs to be done to improve the support and awareness.
She told us she wants to see more coverage of disabled people taking part in sport in general, not just in the Paralympics: "If we had more people who are disabled and just do normal sport then you could show that and the difference between them and a disabled person in an elite sport. "