But the UK Athletics appointment came about not because of her running, but rather because she is a respected marketing professional.

The married mother of two young children has 15 years of high level experience in consumer marketing, including stints at Nestle, P&H and BT. But she has proved quite the master of juggling her commitments as Warner has actually been an international athlete since 1998. Despite that fact; London 2012 will actually be her first ever Paralympics as her events were only recently included on the programme.


As a result Warner has taken sabbatical from her category marketing controller position at Palmer & Harvey, a firm which provides nationwide distribution facilities for small shops across Britain, to focus on preparing for London 2012 but she will join UK Athletics full time in October following the conclusion of the Paralympics.

"I think part of the reason that I got the UK Athletics role was because of the fact that I am a Paralympic athlete," the bubbly Warner told me as we sat down together at Forman's Fish Island, the closest venue to the Olympic Park in Stratford.

"I don't think that was the deciding factor by any means but I'm sure it was a contributor.

"I know Paralympic sport is high on the agenda at UK Athletics and while my focus is going to be on both able-bodied and Paralympic sport, I think I'm always going to have a soft spot for the Paralympics.

"For that reason, I'll be looking to give it a higher profile platform than it has received before and probably make it a bigger priority than someone else who went for the role might have made it.

"I was absolutely thrilled to get the job though because it is just such an exciting time for sport in the UK right now.


"I honestly believe we will host the biggest Olympic and Paralympic Games that the world has ever seen.

"After that, we have the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2017 World Athletics Championships so we have a real opportunity to continue the London 2012 story after the Games."

On the subject of the 2017 World Athletics Championships, Warner admits she is hopeful that London will stage the 2017 IPC World Athletics Championships back to back with the able-bodied event, as UK Athletics stated they would do in their bid for the event last year.

"I really do hope we get the 2017 IPC World Athletics Championships and given that it is something that we discussed in the bid, I would be surprised if we didn't get it," she said.

"On a personal level, I obviously really hope we do get it because that we be an amazing project for me in my new role.

"I would be all over it and I would work as hard as I could to make it a bigger event than the able-bodied competition.

"That is not to say that I do not have a very realistic perspective of Paralympic sport.

"I know that there are more able-bodied people out there than disabled people so I think able-bodied sport will always be bigger.

"But what Paralympic sport does is give disabled people in the community something to aspire to and that is an amazing thing that we must continue to work hard to promote.

"But with regard to my role in doing that, I think it is something for the future.

"Right now I need to just throw everything into my preparations for the Games and concentrate 100 per cent on that before I can channel my energies into my new career at UK Athletics."


It is a good plan as Warner is one of Britain's biggest hopes for a medal at the Paralympics in London. Many are even tipping her for gold but she is far more cautious when discussing her own chances.

"Paralympic sport is such a minefield so the main thing is just for me to go out there and run faster than I've ever run in my entire life," she said.

"I just hope that it is enough to get me a medal.

"I've been running very well this season and I broke the European record for the T35 200 metres at the Paralympic athletics test event at the Olympic Stadium last month with a time of 35.59sec.

"The month before that, I set a European record for the T35 100m of 16.44 so it has been a cracking season so far.

"I'm definitely where I want to be at the moment and the plan is just to try and continue that heading into London 2012 and obviously stay fit.

"But as well as going for a medal, I really want to just enjoy it too.

"You would have to be mad to not see how big an opportunity this is.

"We obviously all want to go out there and win but you have to enjoy it because competing in front of a home crowd is an opportunity that may not ever turn up again."

At the age of 37, Warner is one of the older members of the ParalympicsGB team heading to London 2012 and I ask if she plans to retire after the Games with an exciting new career at UK Athletics waiting for her.

"I hate it when people ask that," she responds emphatically.

"I love competing though and I've definitely got no plans to retire any time soon.

"Training and competing does wonders for my disability and it is a big part of my everyday existence so I really want to go for as long as I can, maybe even through to Rio 2016 if I can manage it.

"I obviously want to go out on a high and not when I'm going downhill but I feel very healthy right now so I feel like I can carry on for a good while yet."

Tom Degun is a reporter for insideworldparasport