Mel Woods

Melanie Woods (born 12 August 1994) is a Scottish teacher and wheelchair racer who competed at the postponed 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo and the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Life Woods was born in 1994 and she was interested in cycling, the gym and horse riding. She came to notice after an accident in 2018. and while she was out on her bike in Inverness a car drove into her.

Woods was paralysed below the waist. At the end of June she was in Manchester for the British Athletic Championships where she was third in a mixed classification 400m wheelchair race behind Hannah Cockroft and Sammi Kinghorn. She was among nine Scottish athletes who were chosen to compete at the postponed 2020 Summer Paralympics. She and most of the names were announced in July 2021. The others were Samantha Kinghorn, Libby Clegg, Jo Butterfield, Maria Lyle, Owen Miller, Derek Rae, Stef Reid and Ben Rowlings. For her and Owen Miller it would be their first paralympics, but for others like Libby Clegg this was her fourth. She is coached by Rodger Harkins

She was pleased with her fifth place in the T54 800m in Tokyo as she had only recently returned to the sport. She took two seconds off her time in the Paralympic heats to get a personal best time of 1:50.40.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she came 4th in the 1500m T53/54.

At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, she came 10th in the 400m T54.

At the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships, Melanie came 4th in both the 400m and 1500m and 7th in the 800m T54.

Woods was selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, held in Paris, France. She came 6th in the T54 800m and 8th in the T54 1500m.

At the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, she won the gold medal in both the 400m and 1500m T54 categories for Scotland, with the 1500m victory confirmed after she won both the initial race and a re‑run that was ordered following a collision behind her in the first running of the event.