Paralympic gold medallist Anne Usher has been elected to the board of the Sport and Recreation Alliance.

Usher won her gold in the Rio 2016 paracanoeing event before retiring from the sport last month.

Formerly known as Anne Dickens prior to her wedding in 2016, Usher has been voted in by the Alliance’s membership and begins her three-year term in July.

Andrew Moss, chair of the Alliance, said Usher’s skills and personal experience “give her a unique insight into the challenges” in the sport and recreation sector.

Before becoming a Paralympic champion, Usher was a physiotherapist, amateur mountain biker and sport volunteer.

She is also a patron of mental health charity the River Thames Boat Project, which chimes well with the Alliance’s flagship Mental Health Charter initiative.

“As an athlete, at both grassroots and high performance levels, helping others to achieve in sport, we believe Anne will be a huge asset in helping us achieve our vision of an active nation through sport and recreation,” added Moss.

Usher said that her “30 years of hands-on experience” as a physiotherapist, volunteer and athlete had equipped her with a “huge amount of empathy that I can bring to board discussions”.

“As a sector, we must make sure that organisations across sport and recreation have the support they need to be successful,” she added.