Billy Monger discusses new children's book and 2028 Paralympic training
Billy Monger has discussed his first children's book, Find Your Drive, and his triathlon training for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics in a television interview.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Billy Monger has spoken about his first children's book, Find Your Drive, and his training for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics.
The 25-year-old double amputee, former racing driver and author said the book is drawn from lessons he learned through challenges including losing his legs, completing Ironman challenges for Comic Relief and returning to racing. He has also broken an Iron Man record, raced across the world and appeared in the Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing.
Monger said the idea came from his BBC documentary, Driven, which followed his journey back to racing after his accident. Social media messages told him the film was being used in schools to teach resilience and overcoming adversity. Messages from children who found it inspiring made him think he could make something more specific for that age group.
He said self-belief had to come first. Some people had questioned whether he could achieve certain goals, and some saw his disability as a barrier. He said it was up to him to find people who would support his ideas.
The book tells children to step outside their comfort zone. Monger said he found his passion by trying something early, starting go-karting at six. It was not a conventional sport and not what his friends were doing, but sticking with it built resilience. He said it is fine to be rubbish at something at first, recalling that his father ran around the track in front of him when he was slow. He later became British karting champion and found a community in racing that supported him when he needed it most.
On the Paralympics, Monger said triathlon had grabbed him through the Ironman challenges he did with Comic Relief. His trainers suggested the Paralympics could be an option. He said he had been careful about Paralympic sport because people assumed after his accident that he would move into it easily. He said it is much harder than that, with a lot of work behind the scenes. He is now embracing life as an athlete, has already suffered injury setbacks and is giving the challenge his all.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 |
|---|---|
| Monger developed the book after schools used his BBC documentary Driven to teach resilience and overcoming adversity. | |
| Monger's first children's book uses lessons from his leg loss, Ironman Comic Relief challenges and return to racing. | |
| Monger's trainers suggested the Paralympics as a possible option for him. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The segment was a warm studio interview built around Monger's personal story of resilience. It focused on the children's book as a lesson for young readers and then moved to his Paralympic ambitions. A brief update on Trump and press access appeared before the interview, but it was unrelated to Monger.
- “Billy Monger isn't one to shy away from a challenge.”
- “I'm embracing the life of being an athlete.”
- “So triathlon as a sport has grabbed me in the last few years.”
Broadcast Timeline
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