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18 million people in the UK tuned in to watch the Games for Athletes with Disabilities, where Team GB snagged 49 gold medals. But beyond the medal count, which athletes grabbed the public's attention on social media?
British athletes are proving they’re winners in competition and powerful voices online. This article dives into the stats for the ten most-followed Para-athletes. Learn their follow count, engagement rates, earned media value (EMV), and audience demographics to determine which athletes can strengthen your campaign. Then, learn about five athletes who offer brands something unique, whether that's high engagement or a niche audience.
This list features the ten most-followed medalists. It's also packed with marketing insights: how credible their audience is, engagement rates across Instagram Reels and posts, audience demographics, and more!
Here are the medalists with the largest communities:
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Kadeena Cox is the 2024 medalist in a disability sport with the most significant following. Despite an injury just six weeks before the Games, she won gold with her team in the Mixed 750m Team Sprint C1-5 track cycling event, pushing through health challenges throughout the week.
In her youth, Cox was a hockey player and sprinter. Then, she developed her MS and moved into Para-sprinting and cycling. Her message is clear: "For me, the last 10 years have been about pushing boundaries and encouraging people to feel like they are more than their disability. You have to try and live your best life because we only get one."
Cox has made several TV appearances, including on The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off and Celebrity Gogglebox. 73% of her audience is female, and 54% are between 18 and 34. She has collaborated with brands like Samsung and Smart Water.
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Lauren Steadman, 31, is a para-champion in the triathlon. In 2024, at her fourth Paralympics, she took the bronze in the PTS5, overcoming a tough year rife with injury and illness. She is now training in cross-country skiing with eyes on the Winter Paralympics 2026.
Steadman is a household name, reaching the semi-finals in Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 and competing in SAS: Who Dares Wins. She also has a master's in Business and Management and is studying for a PhD.
Steadman's mission is to "give people a fulfilment, an ability to think outside of their comfort zone, I think I’ve always been curious to see where the limits are and the want to try things, with only one hand."
She has collaborated with brands like Get PRO, Dreams, and creators of her "pain cave" Dunster House. Steadman's audience is 78% female, and 37% are aged 18-24.
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Table topper Alice Tai grabbed five medals for Great Britain in Paris. Her fantastic results brought her every colour of medal: two golds, one silver, and two bronzes. The swimmer, 25, first entered the pool at age eight. Since then, Tai has been part of many competitions. She took bronze in the relay during the 2016 Summer Paralympics, but an injury kept her from Tokyo 2020. She shared, "There’s the elite sport side of it but the bigger thing is about how it’s breaking down stigmas about disability and it also forms a community – not just at the Paralympic Games but in Paralympic sport in general."
Tai's Instagram content centres around her sport. She has collaborated with brands like Aldi, Uber, and Speedo. Her audience is mixed-gender, and 70% are between 18 and 34.
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“I’ve now completed the set with Europeans, World Cup, World Championships and now Paralympics. Job done – (I’m) so pleased, so happy, just content,” says Paracanoe athlete Jack Eyers after securing silver in a close-run 200m VL3 event, finishing just 0.08 behind the gold medalist.
Eyers, 35, is also an actor and model who won Mr England in 2017 - the first amputee to take the title. He has also modelled at New York and London Fashion Week, starred in Casualty and Holby City, and been “ripped apart by werewolves” and “blown up” in war and horror films.
Eyer's content is diverse, focusing on his family, career as a personal trainer, and canoeing. He has collaborated with brands like ThruDark, Bad Hand Coffee, Gymshark, and AiroFit. His audience splits evenly between men and women, 78% are aged 18-34.
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Jonnie Peacock, 31, is a British sprinter who has become one of the most well-known figures in para-sport. After losing his right leg below the knee at age five due to meningitis, Peacock pursued a career in athletics, excelling in the T44/T64 100m sprint event. He first gained global recognition at the 2012 London Paralympics, where he won gold in the 100m T44 final with a time of 10.90 seconds. In the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Peacock finished fifth in the 100m T64 but secured a silver medal in the 4x100m universal relay alongside Zac Shaw, Ali Smith, and Sammi Kinghorn.
Beyond athletics, Peacock has made several TV appearances, including Strictly Come Dancing, Hollyoaks, Jonnie's Blade Camp, and the Great British Menu. His audience is 86% women.
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Hewett, 25, is a wheelchair tennis player who has seen incredible results in the Games and Grand Slams. In 2024 alone, the 30-time major champion won Wimbledon, a men's doubles gold medal with Gordon Reid, and a silver in the men's singles event - losing a close match for the gold medal. He shared, "Right now, it feels very bittersweet but I've learned a lot about perspective. One day, when I retire, I think being part of that match is going to be right up there with my career highlights."
Thanks to his success, Hewett's Instagram following has grown by 31%. His audience is also highly engaged with his posts, which mainly feature tennis content. His followers are 56% female, and 72% are between 18 and 34. Hewett collaborates with brands like Dreams and British Gas.
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Referred to as a "charming young man" by Queen Elizabeth, Reid is a 25 times doubles champion. This year, he played doubles with Alfie Hewett, beating the competition to secure gold - the 32-year-old's 4th medal. He said, "It's something we have been desperate for for a long time now and we have come so close twice and felt that heartbreak, felt that pain. That's been some of the toughest moments in my career. To sit here with the gold around our necks, it's up there with one of the best." Reid's audience is highly engaged. 39% are aged 25-24.
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The 9x Champion and 16x World Champion won two gold medals in the 2024 Paralympic wheelchair racing in the Women's 100m T34 and Women's 800m T34. After winning, Hannah Cockroft, 32, said, "The atmosphere was amazing, I could feel the noise following me around, it’s like being back in London, I love it."
The veteran athlete was initially kept from sport as a young child attending a school with poor accessibility. Then, she discovered wheelchair sports and racing and began competing. Cockroft is also an activist, pushing for #equalplay for disabled kids.
Cockroft's audience has grown by 20% in the last three months. 58% of her followers are male, and they are mixed age groups. She has collaborated with brands like Aldi, Dreams, Cheerios, and Bupa.
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Baker, 34, took home two bronze medals in the Individual Championship Test Grade III and Individual Freestyle Test Grade III. She shared “It is clear to see here, and in the Olympics, that there are such amazing bonds, such trust, we love our horses so, so much. Especially in para-dressage, we are trusting our horses with our entire lives."
Baker began competitive horse riding at age nine. Over the years, she has earned ten medals for the Great Britain team. She collaborates with brands like Agria Equine Insurance UK and typically posts about her family and sport. Baker's audience is 85% women, and 65% are between 18 and 34 years of age.
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On the homepage of Jaco Van Gass's website, it states he is "a keen Adventurer, Motivational Speaker, World & Paralympic Champion Para-Cyclist and a World Record holder." It then continues into his story. South African-born Jaco van Gass, a former British Armed Forces Parachute Regiment member, sustained life-changing injuries during his second tour in Afghanistan in 2009, including the loss of his left arm. Despite this, Jaco turned to sports, becoming a Paralympic champion and triple World Record holder in para-cycling. He has also achieved remarkable feats in skiing, marathon running, and mountaineering, including expeditions to the North Pole and Everest. His audience is 78% male and mixed in age.
Influencer marketing is about so much more than follower counts.
The following Paralympians offer brands unique benefits, whether from high engagement rates or strong momentum built from the Games.
Cyclist Archie Atkinson, 20, took a silver medal in the Men's Pursuit C4 Track Cycling. "As a child, it was my dream to be a professional cyclist, so to achieve that is a bit mental," he said. Atkinson set a new world record in the qualifying round. Unfortunately, in the gold medal race, he fell from his bike due to exhaustion, coming away with the silver.
Atkinson offers a great opportunity for brands looking to reach a young target audience. His followers are also highly engaged.
At 46 in the Paris Games, Sarah Storey competed in her ninth Paralympics, continuing her dominance in para-cycling by winning two gold medals in the Women's C5 Individual Time Trial and Women's Road Race C4-5.
Storey is a legendary figure in Paralympic sport with a highly engaged audience. Her followers are also primarily UK-based, with a significant chunk in London. She has also gained thousands of followers in the last three months, showing good momentum.
Sophie Wells is a powerhouse in paraequestrian sports, with an impressive following of 5K on Instagram, where 86% of her audience is female and 38% falls in the 25-34 age range. Her credibility is a strong 86%, making her an appealing collaborator for brands. She won two bronze medals in the Championship Test and Freestyle Test (Grade V) at the Paris Paralympic Games.
Maisie Summers-Newton, a world-class British Paralympic swimmer, continues to dominate in S6 disability events. At just 22, she has set multiple world records, including in the 200m individual medley and 100m breaststroke. She won two gold medals and a bronze at the 2024 Games.
Summers-Newton's audience is highly engaged and 67% are women. For brands hoping to target younger demographics, she presents a fantastic opportunity as 35% of her audience are women between 18 and 24.
Lauren Rowles is a two-time Paralympic champion in rowing, including her 2024 gold in the Mixed PR2 Double Sculls. Off the water, she advocates for disability, gender, and LGBTQ+ inclusion.
With an impressive 15% follower growth in the past month, her Instagram account has reached over 10K followers. Her Instagram Reels also have a remarkable 7.54% engagement rate.
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There were 549 medals to be won at the 2024 Paralympics at the French capital and 183 gold medals.
Great Britain's overall medal tally was 124: 49 gold, 44 silver, and 31 bronze medals. Team GB came in second, behind China on the table with 98 fewer medals.
China won a total 222 medals: 95 golds, 75 silvers, and 52 bronzes in Paris.
The Paralympics motto is "Spirit in Motion." It is reflected in the symbol featuring three "agitos" (Latin for "I move"). It highlights the determination and perseverance of Paralympic athletes.
The medalists in 2024 Paris Paralympics were:
The 2026 winter Paralympics will be in Italy, in Milano Cortina.
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, a data-driven solution that allows brands to scale their KOL Marketing strategies and implement authentic partnerships with KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). Kolsquare’s technology enables marketing professionals to easily identify the best Content Creators profiles by filtering their content and audience, and to build and manage their campaigns from A to Z, including measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors. Kolsquare has built the largest community of influencer marketing experts in the world, and offers hundreds of customers (Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, El Corte Inglés, Lacoste, …) the latest Big Data, AI and Machine Learning technologies to drive inspiring partnerships, tapping into an exhaustive network covering 100% of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers in 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. As a Benefit Company, Kolsquare has been pioneering Responsible Influence by championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations to inspire change.