London 2012 saw the best-ever performance from British athletes – emotional comebacks, tear-jerking successes and a British nation looking on with pride. Chepstow T37 sprinter Jenny McLoughlin, 21, spoke to MELISSA JONES about the life-changing experience of running three events in four days at the Paralympics.

AT the end of the race my heart was in my mouth.

I had just run the last leg of the 4 x 100m T37 relay and we had a bit of a dodgy changeover.

I thought at the time we hadn’t made it and were going to be disqualified for not passing the baton in time.

Katrina Hart was on the third leg and when she hit the check mark I started running.

But I had my hand out trying to grab the baton and it wasn’t getting to me.

I don’t really know what happened, I think she might have tripped or something.

We said if anything happened we would just slow down and I did, I managed to get hold of it.

There was no way I was stopping, I was going to run that last leg. I crossed the finish line in third and then I had my face in my hand fearing the worst.

I thought at the time we hadn’t made it and we had lost out on a medal – I was quite sure I had changed outside of the box.

We went on our victory lap but we actually didn’t know if the result was confirmed.

But then we heard we had got it – I couldn’t have left the changeover any later than I did.

It was so emotional, I was so happy. I caught sight of my family in the crowd.

Everyone was ecstatic, we were jumping up and down.

In the interview after the race I couldn’t get a word in with the other girls because we were delighted, relief was one of the main things.

People have said to me we could have got silver but we could have lost it as well so it was great to get that bronze medal.

We were confident going into the race and it was great to be with the other girls.

In training we had been quite slick. It’s a different vibe in the relay as you are in a team, athletics is a very individual sport.

I was off back to the Olympic village as I knew I had the 200m the next day, which is my favourite event.

I had to get some sleep as the relay was over and done with.

I had a recovery drink, which comes from a Lucozade powder you take after each training session and race and it refuels you a lot quicker.

I only had about five to six hours sleep, it was a lot to come down from and I had a race at 10am the next morning.

But it was something I had to deal with.

I ran a personal best and qualified for the final. Before a race you don’t really think about it, you need to keep as calm as possible.

You have a warm-up track where you do drills and you need to be quite precise.

Then you go into a call-up room before you get to the main track where you meet all your competitors, they check your kit, spikes and so on. You are divided up and it’s like a tent really, and then you are led onto the track.

If you start looking at the other athletes it’s not good as that’s when your mindset changes.

You have to believe in what you can do as if you don’t you are beaten before you start.

The Paralympics was the biggest competition of my career and I was really confident going into the 200m final, I had improved throughout the year.

I remember going out in front of the crowd. It was amazing to have 80,000 people cheering you on. To have family and friends there too was pretty awesome.

On the first day I couldn’t really believe I was there.

I came 7th in the 100m final and I was pretty disappointed with that.

I ran one personal best so I suppose I couldn’t really ask for more.

That was my first event and I knew I had two more events to go, the relay, and then the 200m.

I was on the phone to my coach Darrell Maynard, who has been with me every step of the way since I was 16.

He gave me encouragement, that I’d run a personal best and improved myself.

I had a day’s rest, I read, watched a film and relaxed as much as possible.

Then I ran the relay and the following day was the 200m.

I was really confident going into the final but it came and I didn’t do well in any respect.

I don’t think anything went wrong per se, but I think I ran quite a lot of races in a few days, which could have had an impact.

The disappointment was quite hard to get over as it was my stronger event and I knew I was capable of winning a medal.

I was gutted I came 5th and while the other girls were too fast on the day, I had beaten some of them before.

The day after a lot of people won gold medals like David Weir and Hannah Cockroft, who was next door in my Olympic village apartment with Sally Brown.

We were in blocks of four, my room mate was Olivia Breen and we were overlooking the Olympic stadium.

I went and supported them as I knew this was a once in a lifetime experience, I wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

At that point I actually realised how loud the crowd were, as in a race it’s a blur and you can’t hear a lot.

I had a few days off to enjoy myself and eat what I want.

We were all given a 1kg bar of Cadbury’s chocolate with our name on and I got through that quite easily and had a McDonald’s.

I’ve eaten really well throughout my life and to me it’s quite normal, I have a set plan.

Two to three hours before a race I have something like chicken, potatoes and vegetables.

You have got to eat enough to fuel your body but you can’t overeat and I have a nutritionist back home in Wales – McDonald’s is normally off limits.

In the mornings I usually have porridge and yoghurt, lunch is something with tuna or a baked potato for example and tea would be fish or chicken based. You have to eat right to be able to train.

However I think a lot of the atheletes enjoyed a burger after they had finished performing!

I had my nails done at the Olympic village before my events and my hair done afterwards.

Paralympics GB put on a house where we could meet family and friends and they saw my medal.

It was nice because they have been through it all with me.

Without help from mum and dad when I was younger I wouldn’t be where I am now.

They took me to training with Cwmbran Harriers and then I was spotted by Disability Sport Wales.

People are still talking about London 2012 and it’s hard to think about anything else.

Now I am back at Cardiff University studying philosophy, and training with a view to my next big competition, the World Championships.

I think attitudes towards disabled people have changed.

There are a lot more people who have more severe cerebral palsy than me.

My right side is weaker so I have to put in extra effort to to work on it.

I trained six to seven days a week before the Paralympics, mixing speed and endurance work with starting from the blocks and lifting in the gym.

I’m really competitive and wanted to do sport as a child, I fell in love with running.

Occasionally people come up to me in the street and say ‘you’re that girl...’ which I find quite weird.

I’m just Jenny to my housemates. As long as I keep enjoying what I’m doing, I’ll carry on.