It’s no secret that Wiltshire is home to some magnificent sporting talent.

From football legends, to tennis stars, people from the county have some seriously impressive sporting accolades behind their name.

Here are some of the biggest sports stars that hail from Wiltshire:

Louise Hunt - Tennis player

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Paralympic tennis player Louise Hunt and Phoenix Enterprises’ Emma Rees.

Louise Hunt is a British wheelchair tennis player who competes in international level events.

Louise is a world-class wheelchair tennis player who has represented Paralympics GB in both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic games.

She was a former world number two in the junior wheelchair tennis singles rankings.

She was a bronze medalist at the 2011 BNP Paribas World Team Cup and silver medalist at the 2012 BNP Paribas World Team Cup.

Last year she partnered with Swindon-based disability charity Phoenix.

Debbie Palmer - Speed skater

Debbie Palmer is a short track speed skater. She competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Jazz Carlin - Swimmer

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Jazz Carlin won two silver medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio -  (John Walton/PA).

Jazmin "Jazz" Carlin is a competitive swimmer, who represents Wales and the Great Britain swimming team.

She competes primarily in freestyle events and is currently based at the University of Bath.

She won gold for Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and two silver medals for Great Britain in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Jenna Arrowsmith - Figure skater

Figure skater from Swindon, Jenna Arrowsmith is a three-time British national champion and finished 24th at the 1995 World Championships.

She was coached by Lesley Norfolk-Pearce at the Swindon Ice Figure Club.

Fraser Rogers - Motorcycle racer

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Fraser Rogers Photo: Tim Crisp

Fraser Rogers from Swindon is a British Grand Prix motorcycle racer.

He currently competes in the British National Superstock 1000 Championship aboard a Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Dean Ashton - Footballer

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Dean Ashton is a former professional footballer. He made over 240 appearances as a forward in the Football League and Premier League for Crewe Alexandra, Norwich City and West Ham United, and was capped by England.

He was highly praised as a talented centre forward, but had a career frustrated by injury.

He retired on 11 December 2009, aged 26, after failing to recover from a long-term ankle injury sustained during international duty with England.

Matthew Claude Mills - Footballer

Another famous footballer from the county is Matthew Mills who played as a defender.

Born in Swindon, Mills started his youth career with the academy of Swindon Town before switching to the Southampton Academy in 1999.

He turned professional in 2002 and had loan stints with Coventry City and Bournemouth during his time with Southampton. In 2006, Mills signed with Manchester City. However, his playing time was limited due to injuries.

Grant Turner - Swimmer

Team GB swimmer Grant James Turner from Swindon competed for Great Britain in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Upon retirement from competitive swimming, Grant formed the Joanne Jackson Swim Academy with his partner Olympic swimmer Joanne Jackson.

The Swim Academy offers the opportunity for all to develop their swimming skills with two former Olympic swimmers.

Jonny May

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England wing Jonny May (Adam Davy/PA)

Jonathan James May is a professional rugby union player for Gloucester in Premiership Rugby and for the England national team.

He plays as a winger and is known for his speed and finishing skills.

Between 2009 and 2017 he played 121 games for Gloucester, the club he returned to in July 2020. He has also played for Moseley and Leicester Tigers.

May was born in Chiseldon and studied at St Francis before he attended The Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College.

He then studied at Hartpury College, where he was a member of Hartpury College R.F.C., coached by Allan Lewis in a team that included Alex Cuthbert on the opposite wing.

John Francombe - Jockey

John Francome MBE is a former National Hunt Champion Jockey, television pundit and author.

Born in Swindon, the son of a railway fireman, his family had no connection with the horse racing world. At sixteen years old he became apprentice to Lambourn trainer Fred Winter and so began his career as a jockey.

He rode a total of 1,138 winners, his last being in April 1985. During the course of his career he was Champion Jockey seven times, between 1976 and 1985.

Francome is the third most successful National Hunt jump jockey of all time and is dubbed the best jockey never to have won the Grand National.

After retiring, Francome was awarded the MBE in 1986 for services to racing. He was a trainer for 18 months before becoming a TV presenter for Channel 4's horse racing broadcasts.


Have you seen any of these iconic sporting stars live? Let us know in the comments.