Paralympic News

Injured soldier faces new Challenge

Advances in the treatment of soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan mean they could be the ones leading the UK's challenge for medals at the London Paralympics Games in 2012.

Scientists say developments in prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation have helped develop a group of elite athletes.

Other people who have suffered severe injuries are also likely to benefit from the advances.

Jon-Allan Butterworth, 24, joined the RAF in 2002 as a SAC(T) weapons technician and served in Afghanistan in 2005 and Iraq in 2007.

Jon-Allan lost his left arm in Iraq on 4 August 2007 when he was hit in a rocket attack on Basra air station.

Within three months of his injury, he was already looking at how he could get involved in sport.

He met coaches at a Paralympics talent day in October 2007, which laid the foundation for his move into cycling.

Jon-Allan eventually joined the British Para-Cycling Talent Programme 18 months later.

He was helped by Battle Back, a scheme between Paralympics GB and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) which encourages wounded service personnel to return to an active life through sport.

The 24-year-old recently set a new world record at the 2010 National Track Championships in Manchester and hopes to compete in the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

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Sporting heroes help prepare new generation of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls

Forty-seven Team 2012 athletes, representing each of the Olympic and Paralympic sports and disciplines, gathered last week in London to hear guidance and advice from sporting legends such as Sir Clive Woodward and Baroness Grey-Thompson.

The Athlete Summit event, organised by Team 2012 presented by Visa, provided aspiring young athletes from across the country with vital skills that will assist them on their journey as they prepare to compete in their first Games in less than two years’ time.

Alongside Baroness Grey-Thompson, Sir Clive Woodward (BOA Director of Sport) conducted workshops in which he shared his own perspective on the making of champions, with insights into the preparations which led his England team to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Speaking after the Summit, Sir Clive said: “We expect over 75% of Team GB’s athletes in London 2012 to be first time Olympians, and 100% of British athletes will never before have competed in a home Olympic Games. With this in mind, the Team 2012 Athlete Summit provides a valuable opportunity for athletes from across the many sports and disciplines to come together and learn from Olympians and Paralympians who have been there, done it and succeeded - and to help prepare themselves for the unique opportunities of competing on home soil in front of thousands of enthusiastic British fans in 2012.”

This event is one of many initiatives being delivered by Team 2012 presented by Visa in order to provide its 1,200 Olympic and Paralympic athletes with the best possible chance of success. Launched in September 2009, it is already over half way towards its fundraising target of £25million with the monies raised being invested back into sport. Distributed primarily by UK Sport’s World Performance Programme, but also to the BOA and BPA to support their Games time preparations, these vital funds assist talented British sportsmen and women with the specialist support services required to help reach their potential - including access to world class coaches, sport science and medical support.

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Reid ends 2010 with Prague title

British No 2 wheelchair tennis player Gordon Reid secured his third win of the season against a world top 10 ranked opponent on Sunday to win the men's singles final at the ITF 3 Series Prague Cup Czech Indoor.

Second seed Reid defeated Austrian world No 9 and top seed Martin Legner 7-5, 6-3 to win this third men's singles title of the season on the NEC Tour. In September he beat the world No 8 and world No 10 in successive weeks to win back-to-back ITF 2 Series titles.

"It was a really good week, I'm very happy with how I played, especially after such a nightmare of a journey," said the 19-year-old Scot, who arrived in Prague on Wednesday, almost 24 hours later than planned due to delays caused by the wintry weather across Britain. "It was a really good way to end the year and now I'm looking forward to a bit of time off and then getting back into training in the New Year."

Reid is now likely to earn an improvement in his current men's singles world ranking of No 14, having started 2010 world ranked No 17. His success ends a successful tournament for British players after he was also a runner-up in the men's doubles, while compatriot Jordanne Whiley was runner-up in the women's singles and retained the women's doubles title.

Paralympic Sports Await their Fate

The International Paralympic Committee will announce on Saturday which sports will be included in the 2016 Rio Paralympics programme.

Badminton, canoeing, golf, powerchair football, taekwondo and triathlon, as well as basketball for athletes with learning disabilities, have applied.

Their applications have been evaluated and will be considered alongside the current 20 sports.

The decision will be made at the IPC's governing board meeting in China.

The 14 members of the board will discuss the evaluations of both the seven applications and the 20 existing sports, and - with the exception of IPC chief executive Xavier Gonzalez - will vote on which sports should be included for 2016.

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will take place from 7-18 September 2016.

The last sport to be added to the schedule was rowing, which made its debut at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

The British Triathlon Federation and the International Triathlon Union are hopeful that their sport will get the nod and have launched a campaign which has received widespread support.

Britain already has a strong reputation in the sport and won five medals, including four golds, in September's ITU World Championship Grand Final in Budapest.

Jane Egan, Faye McClelland, Charlotte Ellis and Iain Dawson claimed golds in their respective classes with former Paralympic swimmer Clare Cunningham winning silver behind McClelland.

"Triathlon has had its place in the Olympics for some time and it seems right that Paratriathlon should similarly be included in the Paralympics," Egan told the British Triathlon website.

"It is hard to think of another sport that provides such a tough, all-round test of athletic performance and ability.

"The Paralympics represent the ultimate level of sporting achievement. As the current world champion, I cannot think of anything more motivating than having Paratriathlon included in the 2016 Games.

"Knowing that there could be the opportunity to compete at the very highest level possible makes all of the hard work worthwhile. It will also raise the profile of the sport and will undoubtedly increase participation at all levels."

Paralympic Sports in Funding Cuts

Six summer Olympic sports have received a cash boost ahead of London 2012 in funding body UK Sport's annual review.

Boxing, canoeing, gymnastics, hockey, rowing and taekwondo have been rewarded for strong performances in 2010, but badminton's funding has been reduced.

Winter sport funding up to the Sochi Games in 2014 has risen by £4.8m with skeleton the main beneficiary, but there is no funding at all for skiing.

Figure skating and men's bobsleigh have also lost all financial support.

The Paralympic sport of goalball has seen its funding cut by £150,000 after a disappointing display at the World Championships while wheelchair curling is cut from £445,000 to £233,800, although Paralympic skiing has seen a £63,000 increase.

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Ben Clark hopes for Paralympic gold after accident

Ben Clark has always dreamt of Olympic gold.

A talented swimmer, he has trained with some of the top names in the sport, hoping one day to represent his country.

But in a split-second in July the 20-year-old's life changed forever.

Ben, who had just returned from Australia where he was being coached and preparing for Commonwealth trials, was enjoying a day out at Sandbanks Beach, Poole.

Having swum there many times before, he dived into a wave, hit his head on a rock and broke his neck.

As an experienced swimmer and trained lifeguard, Ben instantly knew what to do and told those with him to get him out of the water and to keep him still.

Ben getting into the pool with his physiotherapist

"I think with all the training that I had it definitely helped me. I could be dead, I could be on a ventilator," he said.

Having broken his C5 vertebra and fractured two others, he was taken to hospital before being transferred for emergency surgery in Southampton to rebuild his spine using bone from his hip.

Doctors said he may never regain movement from below his neck, but after intense rehabilitation he is sitting up in a wheelchair and has started to gain strength in his upper body.

Five months on he is back in the water with his eyes set Paralympic glory in 2012.

He undergoes specialist physiotherapy at the Duke of Cornwall's Spinal Unit, Salisbury, and receives constant encouragement from his family and friends.

Ben admits that getting back into the pool at first was a daunting experience, but he remains determined about the future.

"I wasn't really sure to begin with whether I was going to like it, but as soon as I got back in I knew this was where I was meant to be, it was my home," he said.

"The only difference to me is that I feel I'm sitting all the time. I don't want this to affect me in the slightest and I don't think it ever will.

"I've always been determined throughout the whole of my life, I have to be with the sport I'm in.

"If you're not determined then you are never going to get anywhere."

As a boost during his stay in hospital, the swimmer received a visit from F1 driver Mark Webber, and has received messages of support from a number of swimming stars including Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington, Cassie Patton, Keri-Anne Payne and Paralympian Darren Kenny.

His mother, Pauline, said she was amazed at her son's improvement and determination.

"The first day I saw him in the pool it did make me cry," she said.

"It's what he's always done, it's always been his dream since he was five-years-old when he first said to me, 'Mum, I'm going to win an Olympic gold medal'.

Before his accident, Ben had been training in Australia where he was also a lifeguard

"It looked like it had gone forever - but it looks like it's coming back."

Ben hopes he will be discharged from hospital in January, when he plans to move into his own flat and live an independent life.

He also hopes to inspire others in sport with disabilities with his charity, Chairs for Champions.

"I'm just going to train as hard as I can," he said.

"I remember racing against Liam Tancock when I was about 14, now he's world champion and I should be there too, there's no reason why I can't.

"2012 is two years away. Some people thing it's short but I'm just going to do the best I can to make sure if I don't get there, then I get to the next one.

"It's been my goal forever, I want to be there and I want to be the best in the world at what I do."

ParalympicsGB welcome two new Paralympic sports for 2016

At a meeting in Guangzhou, China, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board has voted to increase the number of sports at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games to 22 with the addition of para-canoe and para-triathlon to the existing Sports Programme.

Of today's news, ParalympicsGB Chief Executive Phil Lane said: "“We welcome the inclusion of triathlon and canoeing to the 2016 Paralympic Games. The sports have demonstrated a strong case and we welcome the expansion of the Paralympic family to include them.”

In total seven sports submitted applications to the IPC to be included in the Summer Games programme in July this year. All applications, together with the 20 existing sports, were reviewed and evaluated by the IPC and a recommendation presented to the Governing Board to make their decision.

Sir Philip Craven, President of the IPC said: "I would like to thank all seven sports for submitting applications to the IPC to be included in the summer Sports Programme.

"All sports, including those involved in the current Programme, were assessed against the same criteria during a lengthy process which started in the second half of 2009.

"Congratulations must go to para-canoe and para-triathlon who have been admitted to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games programme alongside our 20 existing sports. We look forward to working with them over the coming years to manage their smooth transition into the Sports Programme in time for 2016.

"For those sports that were unsuccessful, we will offer to meet each one individually to offer feedback on why they were not included and what steps they can take to present a stronger case should they decide to apply for inclusion again in future years."

The process to determine the sports programme for Rio 2016 started in the second half of 2009 when the IPC approached the International Federations governing the 20 existing sports. All submitted letters of intent indicating their interest in positioning their sports in the 2016 Programme.

At the same time the IPC also gathered letters of intent from International Federations who expressed an interest in adding sports.

All sports were then asked to complete a series of questionnaires which included minimum eligibility and competition proposal, as well as provide documentation on subjects including World Championships results, Rules and Regulations and Membership directories.

In addition new sports were asked to complete an organizational infrastructure questionnaire and classification code self-audit.

The seven new sports which submitted applications to the IPC were:
* Para-Badminton
* Basketball for athletes with Intellectual Disability (ID Basketball)
* Para-Canoe
* Para-Golf
* Powerchair Football
* Para-Taekwondo
* Para-Triathlon

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will take place between 7-18 September 2016.

Medals for GB skiiers at European Cup

Paralympian Talan Skeels-Piggins has taken gold in the Super-G event at the first European Cup of the GB racing season in Pitztal.

Races on Friday and Saturday were cancelled due to poor weather, but on Sunday the weather smiled on the GB team and gave Talan Skeels-Piggins the first Gold Medal in the male sit skier class.

In a tightly fought race less than two seconds separated the first four of the twenty finishers in this strong field. The margin of victory for Talan was a full second ahead of the French skier Frederic Francois, and team mate Sean Rose finished fourth. The factored time for Talan was 1min12.16 seconds, with Sean narrowly missing bronze by 0.1 seconds as he came in with a time of 1min13.78 seconds.

An amazing start for the skier from Bath and fully deserved according to Coach Jane Stevens who said:

" It is a fantastic start to the season for the BDST. Talan winning the SuperG by a full second and with Sean coming 4th, just pipped out of 3rd...Talan has been training consistently and had some fantastic break throughs and fully deserves his win. A very emotional and proud day for the whole team."

Talan was awarded the Gold Medal and also a trophy given in memory of German Sitskier Tom Mayer who died in July 2004. The Tom Mayer Trophy is given each year to the winner of the Super G in the sitting category.

Earlier in the week, there were also successes over at the IPCAS level races in Italy where Martin Hewitt and Peter Dunning are fighting hard to make the qualification grade for World Championships this January. In the Giant Slalom and the Slalom events, sit skier Peter Dunning took both Gold medals in his category, and Martin Hewitt took two silvers in the mens standing category.

Unfortunately for Martin and Peter there was not a large quantity of competitors at the Italian event and so the race points awarded were not enough to assure them of that vital World Championships ticket just yet.

All in all though, 5 medals from the first couple of race meets in the 2010-2011 season is an amazing start and bodes well for the ambitious GB team.

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