Miss-Delectable
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The Daily Record - NEWS - STARTING BLOCK..
A PARTIALLY deaf runner is aiming to become an Olympic star, despite being unable to hear the starting gun.
Lauren Peffers, 17, has to take her cue to start a race from her fellow athletes.
But she has overcome the problem to become one of Scotland's best young middle-distance runners.
Now she has won a £3000 sponsorship boost to help her follow in the footsteps of her sporting idols Kelly Holmes and Paula Radcliffe.
The money has been donated by hearing aid professional and manufacturers Widex.
Lauren, of West Barns, East Lothian, said: "I was totally shocked when I found out I was getting the sponsorship money.
"It will help with my travelling costs for going to competitions around the world.
"I am really lucky because I have got to travel to lots of places that I would otherwise never have seen.
"My main goals are the London Olympics in 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in 2014. My aim is to turn professional and to make it to the Olympics."
Lauren has had hearing problems since birth. But her condition was only discovered when she was four.
Though twin brother Ross has perfect hearing, doctors found she only had 20 per cent hearing in both ears.
Her running talent was spotted during a school cross-country run when she was nine.
Since then, Lauren has not looked back.
She holds the European deaf 800m and 1500m records. In mainstream competition, when she wears hearing aids in both ears, Lauren has won the Scottish 1500m title five times in a row in her age group.
But she said: "I can only hear the gun very faintly, so I usually watch the starting gun, or the feet of other competitors so I know when to go."
Mum Anne, 51, and dad, Russell, 54, are convinced she has what it takes to be a star.
Anne said: "She loves running so much because there are no barriers there.
"It doesn't matter that she is deaf and there is nothing to hold her back.
"I travel with Lauren wherever she goes.
"This sponsorship money will help us out because we have spent a lot of money on travelling costs.
"This season she has been hampered by a foot injury but, eventually, she hopes to run full-time.
"At the moment, we just need to get her name known."
Lauren hopes that her success will encourage other deaf people to get involved in athletics.
She wants anyone who is interested to visit the Deaf UK Athletics website at DUKA
A PARTIALLY deaf runner is aiming to become an Olympic star, despite being unable to hear the starting gun.
Lauren Peffers, 17, has to take her cue to start a race from her fellow athletes.
But she has overcome the problem to become one of Scotland's best young middle-distance runners.
Now she has won a £3000 sponsorship boost to help her follow in the footsteps of her sporting idols Kelly Holmes and Paula Radcliffe.
The money has been donated by hearing aid professional and manufacturers Widex.
Lauren, of West Barns, East Lothian, said: "I was totally shocked when I found out I was getting the sponsorship money.
"It will help with my travelling costs for going to competitions around the world.
"I am really lucky because I have got to travel to lots of places that I would otherwise never have seen.
"My main goals are the London Olympics in 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in 2014. My aim is to turn professional and to make it to the Olympics."
Lauren has had hearing problems since birth. But her condition was only discovered when she was four.
Though twin brother Ross has perfect hearing, doctors found she only had 20 per cent hearing in both ears.
Her running talent was spotted during a school cross-country run when she was nine.
Since then, Lauren has not looked back.
She holds the European deaf 800m and 1500m records. In mainstream competition, when she wears hearing aids in both ears, Lauren has won the Scottish 1500m title five times in a row in her age group.
But she said: "I can only hear the gun very faintly, so I usually watch the starting gun, or the feet of other competitors so I know when to go."
Mum Anne, 51, and dad, Russell, 54, are convinced she has what it takes to be a star.
Anne said: "She loves running so much because there are no barriers there.
"It doesn't matter that she is deaf and there is nothing to hold her back.
"I travel with Lauren wherever she goes.
"This sponsorship money will help us out because we have spent a lot of money on travelling costs.
"This season she has been hampered by a foot injury but, eventually, she hopes to run full-time.
"At the moment, we just need to get her name known."
Lauren hopes that her success will encourage other deaf people to get involved in athletics.
She wants anyone who is interested to visit the Deaf UK Athletics website at DUKA