ATHLETE JENNY GLITHERO FROM UK BRINGS HOME THE GOLD MEDALS AS TEAM GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND TOP THE MEDAL TABLE IN AUSTRALIA AT WORLD TRANSPLANT GAMES 2023.

This week 120 transplanted athletes have returned victorious from Australia after competing in the 2023 World Transplant Games for Team Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Team GB & NI).

One of those athletes was Jenny Glithero 37  who competed in Cycling and took home the World Transplant Games 2023 Champion title for the Women’s 30-39 10km TT and 30km road race.

After winning a total of 288 medals, Team GB & NI finished at the top of the medal table, with Australia coming second and Thailand taking third position. 

The World Transplant Games took place in Perth from 15-22 April and saw over 2,500 transplant recipients, live donors, donor families and supporters travel to Australia from all over the world to compete, support and most importantly raise awareness of the lifesaving benefits of organ donation.

Jenny joined athletes from 45 countries across the globe as they took part in over 20 sporting and social events, coming together to celebrate the gift of life and demonstrate the importance of staying healthy and active post-transplant.

Jenny experienced acute liver failure and life giving support and organ transplant in May 2021. Under 2 years later she is celebrating the gift of life and transplant wellbeing by competing and championing 2 gold medals in the women’s 30-39 cycling.

Jenny’s Transplant story can be found on their just giving https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jenny-glithero-road-to-world-transplant-games-australia-april23 and Instagram Im_a_liver_2021.

Team GB & NI was the biggest team in attendance after the host country, Australia, and returned home with 121 gold, 96 silver and 71 bronze medals, including a number which were won by junior team members and live donors. The team is represented by Transplant Sport, the largest UK charity raising awareness of organ donation and the founder of the British Transplant Games, a sporting event held annually in cities across the UK.

Highlights from the week saw Team GB&NI win gold medals in both the men’s and women’s 400m relay and 100m relay races and break world records at the cycling track with a gold in the women’s 50m freestyle relay. The inaugural triathlon event also saw Team GB & NI win both the gold and bronze medals.

Jenny said taking part in the games has been inspiring and offered a sense of community and belonging like no other . I am grateful beyond measure to my donor and support network behind me. Both definitely enabled me to push up those hills in times of struggle 🚴‍♀️

I am a passionate player in transplant sport and wellbeing and work on and off the track in gratitude for my life by advocating for holistic transplant wellbeing.

Dr. Paul Harden, one of Team GB & NI’s Doctors, board member of the World Transplant Games Federation and Chair of Transplant Sport, said: “We are so incredibly proud of each and every athlete that travelled to Perth to compete on behalf of their country. Many of these people have defied the odds, experienced near death situations and battled long illnesses, to see them taking part in sport with transplant communities from across the world is a true inspiration.

“At Transplant Sport our main aims are to, of course, raise awareness of organ donation, but also use sport as a vehicle to encourage families to have crucial conversations and share their organ donation wishes. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of Team GB & NI and do this on a global scale in Australia and we want to say a big thank you to our hosts in Perth.

“The World Transplant Games have got us really excited for our own summer of sport, it’s now less than 100 days to go until the British Transplant Games – we can’t wait to see all of our transplanted athletes from across the UK in Coventry in July!”

David Nix, founder of the Donor Family Network and Trustee for Transplant Sport, said:

“The Donor Family Network is so proud to be able to help a small number of athletes and give them the opportunity to compete as part of the international transplant community. By them competing they are promoting the lifesaving benefits of both donation and transplantation. The 2023 World Games was the perfect celebration of the gift of life and way to say thank you to donors and their families.”

For more information on the work that Transplant Sport is doing in the UK, visit: https://transplantsport.org.uk/