Oxfordshire rower Frankie Allen has landed an emotional gold medal at the Paralympics.

The Wallingford resident was part of GB’s mixed coxed four which won gold to make it 14 years unbeaten and extend the longest winning streak in British sport.

Cox Erin Kennedy, who has beaten breast cancer, guided Frankie, Ed Fuller, Giedre Rakauskaite and Josh O’Brien to a dominant victory.

It was one of three golds and four medals on a magical morning for GB’s rowers and means the four have won 25 titles in a row since 2010.

Ms Allen, 22, is a three-time World champion and three-time European champion in the mixed coxed four. 

Speaking about her selection for the Paralympics, she said: “This is a dream come true.

"We have done so much hard work to get to this point and I want to make the most of all the experiences from now until the Games.

"The pressure of the unbeaten legacy in this boat is a privilege that I’m hugely proud to be a part of."

Ms Allen's first rowing experience was aged 12, in a single called “Tinkerbelle” in Henley on a long rope held by her uncle.

She went on to row at Pangbourne College and later continued her development at Oxford Brookes University alongside studying for her Physiotherapy degree.

During this time Ms Allen discovered that her disability, Erb’s palsy, was classifiable for Paralympic rowing.

“Every single year we have been pushing ourselves on and we’ve taken trust from team-mates before us,” said Ms Rakauskaite, from Worcester, whose success came on the 18th anniversary of the car accident which left her disabled.

“There has always been an overlap of at least one or two team-mates from previous Games and we just drew on everything we could from them, trying to make them proud as well as our friends and family.

“The date carries huge significance for me and it’s now a golden anniversary.

“The Paralympics have been a second chance. I always wanted to be an athlete but when I was a kid, I thought that chance was taken away from me.

“Finding out later when I was in my 20s that I can still pursue my dream as a Paralympian, it was something I just latched on to and clearly didn’t give up.”

After discovering a lump in her breast while on training camp in 2022, Ms Kennedy was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 29.

She continued competing during chemotherapy and following a double mastectomy, won the 2023 European Championships exactly a year to the day after her diagnosis.

She added: “This is the end of a narrative chapter in my life that I didn’t really want to start.

“It has been a bit of a mental three years and 680 days since I was diagnosed, which can be a lot or not a lot, depending on how you look at it.

“Rowing has been the constant for me when things were changing and always provided the goal."