Jo Butterfield eyes historic Paralympic double following cancer recovery
British Paralympian Jo Butterfield is targeting historic gold medals at both the Summer and Winter Games following her return to elite sport after recovering from breast cancer.
The 46-year-old recently made her Winter Paralympics debut in Milan-Cortina.
She finished fifth alongside Jason Kean in the wheelchair curling mixed doubles.
The Rio 2016 champion now hopes to become the first Briton to top the podium in both Paralympic seasons.
Dual-sport ambitions
With her F51 club throw discipline restored to the summer programme, the dual-sport athlete plans to compete at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
She then intends to reunite with Kean for the 2030 Winter Paralympics in the French Alps.
“My plan is to try and do both in the next cycle.” Butterfield
“It should be easy to balance. I think curling are massively supportive, athletics is individual so it’s a little bit easier to fit in around the team sport.”
Overcoming adversity
Her journey to the ice followed a turbulent period of severe health challenges.
Left paralysed from the chest down in 2011 after surgery to remove a spinal tumour, the resilient competitor initially forged a highly successful career in para-athletics.
She pivoted to curling in 2022 after her throwing event was temporarily removed from the Paris 2024 schedule, only to be diagnosed with breast cancer the following year.
“It was two years ago I got the all-clear but the two years before that if someone said to me that you would be at Milan-Cortina, I don’t know if I ever really believed it.”
“I was going day by day thinking, ‘am I even going to be here next week?’ almost, never mind at a Paralympic Games.”
Milan-Cortina heartbreak
The newly formed British duo narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot in Italy.
After losing their opening two matches, they won three of their next four before suffering an agonising 11-10 defeat to the host nation.
“It was within grasp and that’s what’s really frustrating and really annoying because it’s quite an open competition.”
Despite the heartbreaking exit, her ambition to conquer both sports on the ultimate stage remains completely undimmed.
