British Paralympic champion Bethany Firth has publicly thanked God for her incredible achievements.
The swimmer, who won three golds and a silver at the Rio Paralympic Games, was seen praying as soon as she had won her events. Bethany also set a new Paralympic record in the S14 200m freestyle and broke her own Paralympic record in the S14 200m individual medley.
As she took her second gold, she immediately looked up and prayed: “Thank you, God, thank you.” Bethany, the daughter of a Baptist minister who is now an RE lecturer, told the Belfast Telegraph: “I’m so chuffed with that, but I couldn’t have done it without the support of everyone back home – especially my church and my family. God puts challenges in your way but shows you a path if you work hard and put your mind to it.”
In true BBC style, pictures of Bethany obviously thanking God after winning her golds, with hands together and eyes closed, were captioned merely as her ‘celebrating’ by the Belfast Telegraph, The Irish News and other media.