Kylie Grimes MBE is a trailblazing triple Paralympian who has represented Great Britain in both athletics and wheelchair rugby at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. In 2020, she was part of the gold medal-winning GB wheelchair rugby team, who became the first European Team to win a medal at a Paralympic Games. This incredible victory also made Kylie the first woman to win a Paralympic gold in the history of the sport! She now travels across the country delivering fascinating keynotes about her journey, resilience, adversity, motivation, and women in sport.
Just three years after her devastating spinal injury in 2006, Kylie returned to competitive sport and cycled 450km from Vietnam to Cambodia to raise money for Regain. She later found wheelchair rugby in 2009 and played for the London Wheelchair Rugby Club. In 2011, she joined the GB team and qualified for her first Paralympics at the London 2012 games, ultimately finishing in fifth. In 2015, Kylie switched to athletics and competed in the World Championships in Doha and the Rio Paralympics, where she came in an impressive fourth place. In 2017, she finished fifth at the London World Championships and rejoined the British Wheelchair rugby team. In 2019, the team secured gold at the European Championships in Denmark, before going on to claim gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. This historic achievement made them the first European team to win a Paralympic wheelchair rugby medal and the first ParalympicsGB team sport to take gold.
Away from competing, Kylie was awarded an MBE in 2022 for her services to wheelchair rugby and became an Ambassador for the Harlequins Foundation, using the power of sport to help highlight and support the charity’s vital work. She also began working as a motivational speaker, delivering impactful keynotes for corporate teams, schools, and industry events. In 2025 alone, she spoke at Leicester Tigers Wheelchair Rugby Club and the Senior Leadership Team at Lifeways Group. In addition, she delivered a standout keynote on her personal journey to winning old for the Sevenoaks Rugby Club and a motivational talk for Bere Clinic School.
Kylie Grimes MBE is a phenomenal athlete who has pushed past barriers and achieved greatness on the global stage. Refusing to let her injury define her, Kylie is a remarkable example of resilience, grit, and pure motivation. As a motivational speaker, she shares her diverse range of experiences with audiences, from setbacks to success. With experience across corporate events, school talks, and more, Kylie shares insights that empower audiences to overcome challenges and achieve their goals. To hire Kylie for your next event, contact Champions Speakers today!
Kylie Grimes' official speaking topics are listed below:
- Resilience
- Adversity
- Motivation
- Women in Sport
Official Feedback From In-Person & Virtual Events:
"Kylie gave an incredible speech to our EMEA team to mark one year of working from home. Her story was profoundly moving, inspiring and motivating. It is impossible to listen to Kylie and not gain a new perspective on the power of positive thinking. She spoke bravely and openly about the challenges she faced in her life- and how she has worked with determination to overcome them. She gave us some powerful and thought provoking insights, as well as tools and techniques to stay motivated. It was an absolute pleasure to spend an hour in her company." - Helen Bennett, Managing Director, Weber Shandwick
"Kylie is a fantastic and inspirational speaker. She spoke honestly and openly about her experiences as an athlete, providing RFU staff with both valuable insights and a greater awareness of what they can be doing to make rugby more inclusive and accessible." - Jatin Patel, FU Inclusivity in Action, Pitch
"We were lucky enough to have Kylie come in to visit our Year 5 children during our ‘Being Different’ Week. She talked to them about sport and disability and what you can achieve if you really work hard for it. The children thoroughly enjoyed listening to Kylie and were very enthusiastic in asking her lots of questions especially about the Paralympics. Thank you Kylie." - Karen Trafford, Deputy Head, St Polycarp’s Catholic Primary School
"I just had to drop you a line to let you know how utterly blown away I and everyone else was. What an incredible story you have to tell. Kylie very kindly took the time to talk to myself and my team mates on a zoom call. You really did engage everyone so well and there were tears and laughs across the screen. I think we felt like we were living those moments with you as you spoke. So thank you very much for sharing. A true inspiration and in these trying times it was a wonderful boost to hear you speak of your limitless motivation." - Louise Nelson, FutureBrand
"Kylie Grimes was an amazing asset to the Farnham Falcons women’s rugby team pre-match prep. Giving up her valuable and limited time to be with us during an exceptionally busy schedule was greatly appreciated. Her talk about how sport and teamwork have had such a positive impact on her life inspired us as a team to go out with a positive mental attitude. Some sneaky tips and code words to help players process and relax on the pitch was something the team found really helpful. Kylie is an inspiration to sport. She promotes every element of teamwork and is an honorary member of the Falcon Family." - Farnham Falcons, Women’s Rugby Team
"Kylie Grimes visited William Cobbett Primary School and led a lovely assembly, which was very child centred, on what she has achieved as an athlete in terms of her sporting career and her training regime, as well as her hopes and aspirations for the future. She interacted well with the children, demonstrating some of her equipment and explaining her sport well. It was a pleasure to have her visit the school and we will warmly welcome her once more once she has competed at the next Paralympics in Japan." - William Cobbett Primary School
- 2025 - Delivered a motivational talk for Bere Clinic School
- 2025 - Delivered a keynote talk on her journey to gold for the Sevenoaks Rugby Club
- 2025 - Spoke to the Senior Leadership Team at Lifeways Group
- 2025 - Spoke at Leicester Tigers Wheelchair Rugby Club
- 2022 - Awarded an MBE for her services to wheelchair rugby
- 2022 - Harlequins Foundation Ambassador
- 2020 - The Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Team became the first European Team to win a medal at a Paralympic Games
- 2020 - First woman to win a Paralympic gold in the history of wheelchair rugby at the Tokyo Paralympics
- 2019 - Won Gold at the European Championships with the British wheelchair rugby team
- 2016 - Came 4th in the F51 Club throw at the Rio Paralympic Games
- 2012 - Competed in the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the Wheelchair rugby team
How to hire Kylie Grimes MBE
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Kylie Grimes MBE for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
