Sussex Hopefuls

"I am often told that I am an 'inspiration'. The only inspiring thing that I have done is to have the courage and make the necessary sacrifices to follow my dream"

"To succeed, you need to be in the zone. That applies to shooting as much as to anything else. Total concentration is needed"

"You have got to aim high – ever since we were told we had the Olympics in London, getting there has been an aim for me" 

"I'm on cloud nine at the moment – after this summer I'm hoping I'll have the final medal for my trophy cabinet. All I can do is keep training hard and fight hard on the day"

"Enjoying [swimming] and having fun with it is my main goal and that will create whatever happens later, Olympics- or medal-wise"

"We love being in front of the bigger crowds. The more that's riding on a game the better it is for us. The Olympics is the peak"

"You can never relax, never let your standards slip. There's no hiding place. I don't want any regrets that I didn't put everything into London 2012"

"I was born into riding. It's virtually in my blood. But it doesn't feel like it. Every day is a different challenge. You've got to face and overcome those challenges yourself. That's what makes [riding] so exciting"

"It was summer time when I first went to my local club so there were plenty of people there and lots of girls that I got on well with. I keep going down and realised I really liked the sport. The coach spotted me and told me I was really talented"

"I want to start the first day believing that we're good enough to win the gold medal"

"I do dream of being on the podium and receiving a gold medal. To go out on a high like that would be fantastic"

“I was so happy to become European champion. I was lucky because I had great support from my mum. Even when I had cancer, I’ve always looked forward to the next day – let’s enjoy it, make the most of it”

"The squad is here to win gold at the Olympics. It’s a very important time to engage youngsters, who will be the future stars of our sport"

"I was completely overwhelmed to find out I had been selected for ParalympicsGB. It feels like a real achievement to reach the Games after being part of the squad for such a relatively short period"

"We will be up against the best in the world – but with a 10,000 home crowd behind us in London we're confident we can put on a good show"

"A lot of people allow their disability to rule them but I like to think I can rule my disability."