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Manchester Met sport stars begin their Rio 2016 Paralympics campaigns

After last night’s opening ceremony in Rio, three MMU sportswomen are getting ready to compete on the track, on the road and in the velodrome. 

Dame Sarah Storey, an MMU Honorary Graduate, could be the star of Britain's Paralympic team in Rio. She already has 11 golds but if she can add to that tally over the next couple of weeks, she'll move ahead of Tanni Grey-Thomson to become Britain's most decorated female Paralympian. Her first event – the Individual Pursuit (C5) – starts today. After completing her three events on the track, she'll turn her attention to the road. Sarah started out as a swimmer in the Barcelona 1992 Paralympics but switched to cycling in Beijing 2008

Kadeena Cox is a MMU Sport Scholar who'll be competing in both athletics and cycling. She'll be hoping to become the first Briton since 1988 to win medals in two different disciplines at the same Paralympics. Her packed schedule kicks off today in the athletics stadium with the 100m (T38) heats.  

Helen Scott is another MMU Sport Scholar who'll be in action in the velodrome. She'll be piloting partially sighted teammate, Sophie Thornhill, in the tandem having won a silver and bronze in London 2012. Their first event is the 1km time trial which starts on Friday.

Sadly, swimmer and MMU Sport Scholar, Tully Kearney, has had to withdraw from the Paralympics because of injury.

In last month's Olympics, another Manchester Met student, Holly Bradshaw, finished fifth in the pole vault, improving on her sixth place in London 2012.

You can watch all our MMU stars in action on Channel 4. They'll have live coverage each night 1-7pm and 8pm-1am plus a Rio Highlights show from 7.30-8pm.

And for updates on their progress, follow #MMUatRio on Twitter.

To find out when our MMU sportswomen are in action, click on our handy schedule.