Jackie Chan gives Wiltshire Olympian Daphne Schrager medal

Daphne Schrager, who has cerebral palsy, has described hugging actor Jackie Chan after securing a podium place in the women's C1-3 3000M individual pursuit as "just surreal."

The 23-year-old grew up on a farm in Malmesbury and attended Millfield School, but says her obsession with the Paralympics only started when she watched the London 2012 games aged 11.

She joined the British cycling programme in 2019, having never previously ridden, and just five years later has finished second to China's Xiomai Wang in the Paralympic final.

Schrager says she is "immensely proud" of her performance, adding that coming second gives her the “fire” to win in the next Games.

She will celebrate her performance in France the true Parisian way, with a coffee and a croissant.

Daphne Schrager was presented her medal by Jackie Chan (Image: PA)

“I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, and I did," said the Paralympian, speaking about her podium experience.

“It was such a surreal moment actually getting a medal in person, and I just couldn’t stop smiling and crying and I was like, ‘pull yourself together’.

“It’s just amazing, Jackie Chan just came down the corridor when we were waiting to go up for our medals.

“He was just like ‘hi guys, I’ll be presenting your medals’, and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, Jackie Chan’.

“On the podium when I started crying, giving him a hug, and I was like, ‘I better let go, because I’m not sure you’re really meant to be hugging me right now’, but that’s what happened.”

Schrager grew up in Malmesbury and attended Millfield School (Image: Sportsbeat)

Schrager set a C2 world record of 3:45.133 in qualifying before clocking 3:51.129 in the final, just under 10 seconds slower than Wang.

She claims the younger version of herself would have been amazed by her success in cycling given the “odds” she started out with.

Schrager is now one of over 1,000 elite athletes on the UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, which allows her to train full-time and have access to world-class coaches.

“I strongly believe that anything is generally possible at this point," said the Malmesbury star.

“If you have faith in the process and what you’re capable of doing and making your childhood dreams come true, then keep persevering, because a day like yesterday doesn’t come around very often.

“Hopefully I’ll just ride this high and then reset for the road."