The Welsh athlete was denied her reward in the women's F37/38 discus competition due to a classification change.
 
She was reclassified on the eve of the Games from the F44 category [as a les autres or other] to the F38 category [for those with cerebral palsy].
 
But Chin was disqualified after finishing second to China’s Mi Na after following a complaint from an Australian competitor.

The 18-year-old from Deganwy has now taken up rowing in the single sculls and novice women's eight with the hope of progressing quickly enough to challenge for a place in the Olympics.

Her cerebral palsy has now been re-diagnosed with dyspraxia, which entails the partial loss of the ability to coordinate and perform certain purposeful movements and gestures, which means she is no longer eligible for the Paralympics.

Chin took up rowing earlier this year after she was banned from using the Disability Sport Wales Academy (DSWA) because of the row over her classification. 

She has since won a gold medals at the British Indoor Rowing Championships, at the Welsh Indoor Championships and the Welsh Schools Championships.

Chin, who trains at the Royal Chester Rowing Club, had been due to take part in the British Rowing trials at Boston in Lincolnshire on Saturday but they were postponed due to the bad weather.



She said: "It's been a fantastic year, and yes my dream of reaching the Olympics in 2012 is still alive.

"I've had a brilliant month, winning lots of events and want to keep that going.

"Because the weather has been so bad I haven’t been able to spend much time out on the water."

Chin, a pupil at Ysgol Aberconwy, hopes to attend Oxford Brookes University next September to study combined sport and exercise, nutrition and health.

But she plans to combine her course with her new rowing ambition.

She said: "I'm aiming to compete in as many competitions as possible as I need to gain as much experience as I can.

"I train on an ergo [rowing machine] six days a week and row on the water in Chester five days a week.

"I was training at the Imperial College London recently: the coaches have put me forward for the GB World Class Start Rowing Programme which is for athletes they see have potential for 2012.

"They believe in me and I’m training hard. I am determined to make it to the London Olympics."


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December 2008: British Paralympian suffers another blow