Hext, who was born with a hearing impairment and is also paralysed from the waist down after a horse riding accident was set to compete in the S5 100m freestyle heats Friday morning but did not appear for her race. Paralympics GB later confirmed she would miss the Games.

"Following consultation between the Paralympics GB and Aquatics GB medical teams, Suzanna Hext has been withdrawn from competition in Paris. We are of course disappointed for Suzanna who has worked so hard to get to Paris. Athlete welfare is held with the highest degree of importance and ongoing support is provided to all team members during and beyond their Games experience," said Paralympics GB in their statement.

Hext also had to withdraw from the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 after two of her four scheduled events due to a series of asthma attacks. The year after, she missed the 2022 world championships after developing sepsis and before last year's worlds she was in the high-dependency ward for respiratory illness: she won her first world title just 36 hours after being released from the hospital. 

The world champion was looking forward to competing at the Paris Paralympics and said she "can't wait" to hear the crowds for the first time following a rule change in 2023 that meant she could wear her cochlear implants during her race.