Double gold for Scots athlete who crowdfunded operation to have leg amputated

Hope Gordon thought she had bitten off more than she could chew when she squeezed in a new sport at the Commonwealth Games ahead of the Paracanoe World Championships.

And while the versatile Highlander didn’t get on the podium for power-lifting in Glasgow in July, she made history in Poland at the weekend by winning two gold medals in the water.

The glory double came in the women’s KL3 and VL3 events in Poznan as Gordon, 31, became the first British athlete to win both titles at the Paracanoe World Championships.

Hope Gordon celebrates victory at the Paracanoe World Championships in Poznan, Poland. | Canoe Photography

The Scottish canoeist took gold on Saturday in the KL3 200 metres and repeated the feat the following day in the VL3 200m, both categories for athletes with partial leg function.

Commonwealth Games ambition

It has been a remarkable few months for Gordon who realised her ambition of competing for Scotland in a home Commonwealth Games by switching to para powerlifting in Glasgow. She bench-pressed 66.7kg at the competition at the SEC Armadillo and while it wasn’t enough to win a medal, it was still a memorable experience for Gordon who grew up in the small Sutherland village of Rogart.

Bench-pressing forms a big part of her canoe training and her Commonwealth Games cameo came in between double gold medal success at both the Paracanoe World Cup in Montreal and the World Championships in Poznan.

“It’s absolutely bonkers. I can’t quite believe it,” said Gordon. “I came here feeling like I was capable of getting this result, but it’s one thing being capable of it and it’s another thing actually doing it on the day

Hope Gordon of Team Scotland competes during Women's Para Powerlifting Heavyweight Group B on day one of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games at SEC Armadillo on July 24, 2026. | Getty Images

“It has been quite a tight turnaround, but I’m just so delighted I could pull it off when it mattered.

“This whole year it’s just been moving on very quickly to the next thing and I haven’t sat and reflected on too much.

“There's definitely times where I've thought perhaps I've bitten off more than I can chew but I've had enough time to do the training I needed to do and it's all come together really well.”

Crowdfunded operation for amputation

Gordon, who won a canoe silver medal at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, initially got into para sports through swimming but soon diversified. As well as canoeing and powerlifting, she competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, becoming Britain's first ever female para Nordic skier.

She has had to overcome terrible adversity to succeed. A sporty child, she began experiencing pain in her leg at the age of 12. “I just went to school one day, fully able-bodied, and then my leg basically just kind of stopped working,” she said.

She was eventually diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, a chronic neurological pain condition for which there is no cure. The pain became so unbearable that she decided amputation was the only solution. After years of wrangling, she decided to go private and launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £10,000 for the operation to have part of her left leg removed. It took place 10 years ago and she has been pain-free since.

Hers is a remarkable story and one with many chapters still to write.