Sue Bailey | |
Honorific Suffix: | MBE |
Birth Date: | 19 October 1972 |
Birth Place: | Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England |
Occupation: | Primary school teacher |
Employer: | Shawlands primary school |
Sport: | Women's table tennis |
Susan Fiona Bailey, (Gilroy; born 19 October 1972)[1] is a British para table tennis player and primary school teacher. She has competed in six Paralympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020) and at the Commonwealth Games (2002 and 2006).[2] [3]
Bailey began playing table tennis at the age of 12 but her Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (EDS) made her stop at 15; she also has fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndrome. She started playing again at the age of 18 in a wheelchair.[4]
Competing for England she won a gold medal in singles at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and successfully defended her title in Melbourne in 2006.
In 2009, Bailey was awarded an honorary doctorate by Sheffield Hallam University. In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for services to Disabled and Able-Bodied Table Tennis and to Sport for Young People.".[5]