Archery ace Lindsay Howard believes record-breaking broadcast numbers for the Paralympic Games will play a significant societal role in normalising disabilities.

Ripon’s Howard, 52, is on the England shooting team and has been singled out by charity SportsAid as an athlete to watch for LA2028.

The Paris 2024 Paralympics was the biggest ever broadcast on Channel 4 with over 1,300 hours of live sport free-to-air and Howard believes that more eyeballs on the Games can only be a good thing.

“The Paralympics means a lot to me because it's normalising disabilities of all different types,” she said.

“It's putting disability out into the mainstream where people don't normally see.

“To have Channel 4 televising it as they did is hugely important, especially for the generation that are out there that don't think they can do this, they absolutely can.

“I hope these Games will inspire them to just at least go and try different things.”

Howard was in awe watching fellow archer Phoebe Patterson Pine excel in the French capital, while Jodie Grinham won two medals while seven months pregnant, and hopes that she will be in the thick of the action when the Games next roll around.

“It would mean everything to get there,” said Howard. “You have to put in so much time and effort to get to that level so to actually be at the Paralympic Games representing my country would be the pinnacle of my life experiences.

“I would just be so proud to have achieved what I've wanted to do.

“With the right support and the network behind me, I could absolutely achieve it.

“It's just you have to keep going and you have to keep focused and that's the secret to it.

“You have to have your network of people behind you, because you can't achieve the elite level like all those Paralympians on your own - it really does take a village.”

Howard is one of 50 athletes across a multitude of sports supported by a partnership between SportsAid and Pitching In, a multimillion-pound grassroots sport programme established by Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral.

“SportsAid’s support has changed everything for me this year,” added Howard. “It's enabled me to attend more tournaments, because I've been able to take an agent with me, because obviously I have to pay for their accommodations as well.

“It's enabled me to buy a couple of pieces of equipment, which I desperately needed and I've been putting off for a long time, and even though they're fairly small, just being able to get those has changed a lot for me.

“The support around mental health webinars and the chance to actually meet other athletes and compare training styles was brilliant too, so it’s opened a new world for me.”

Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visit entaingroup.com to find out more.