Tag: paralympics

Portrait photo of Hugh Nibloe. he is wearing ParalympicsGB team kit and sitting in his wheelchair, smiling to camera.

Nine Scots on British Curling’s World Class Programme

British Curling announced last week their biggest ever cohort of Para athletes to be selected for the World Class Programme 2024-2025 season, and nine Scots made the cut.

The 12 strong squad includes five Scottish Paralympians: Hugh Nibloe, Gregor Ewan, Robert McPherson, Gary Smith and Meggan Dawson Farrell, alongside Jo (Joanna) Butterfield, Gary Logan, Charlotte McKenna and Martin Sutherland as World Championship representatives. England’s Stewart Pimblett completes the set of the experienced athletes.

Newcomers to that squad are England’s Mixed Doubles world champs Karen Aspey and Julian Mattison, who have moved up from Paralympic Performance Foundation (PPF) level.

Three more of last season’s PPF squad join the Programme: Scotland’s Keith Gray and England’s George Potts and Jason Kean have graduated to national level support, a group that is completed by a third English player Jean Guild.

“Congratulations to all of those who have been selected to the world class programme this season after a rigorous selection process,” said British Curling Paralympic Head Coach Sheila Swan.

“This is the largest squad we have recruited to the Paralympic programme and consists of many familiar faces and experienced athletes along with lots of fresh blood, demonstrating how effectively our Paralympic pathway is now working, enhanced by our recruitment campaigns north and south of the border, with more English athletes on board than ever before.

“International wheelchair curling has never been so competitive, which is being felt ever more keenly with just two years to go to Mila Cortina in 2026 with two medal opportunities available from the team and mixed doubles disciplines in the Paralympic programme for the first time.

“We believe having a large squad will not only boost our chances in 2026 and beyond, we also know it will help everyone at different stages of the pathway to develop well in order to win well when it counts in 2026.”

 

Selected athletes for 2024/25 – Paralympic Squad:

Charlotte McKenna

Gary Logan

Gary Smith

Gregor Ewan

Hugh Nibloe

Joanna Butterfield

Julian Mattison

Karen Aspey

Martin Sutherland

Meggan Dawson-Farrell

Robert McPherson

Stewart Pimblett

Charlotte McKenna

Montage photo of Sammi Kinghorn holding a bronze medal and Ben Sandilands in his Fife athletic club kit

Kinghorn and Sandilands Amongst First 10 Para Athletics Names Announced for Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Two Scots are among the 10 athletes selected for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games announced by ParalympicsGB today, in the first wave of selection.

Following a successful World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe last month, as well as several fine displays by Para athletes in the early stages of the season, ten athletes have been confirmed for the Games.

Scotland’s Samantha Kinghorn (from Red Star AC and coached by Rodger Harkins) and Ben Sandilands (Fife AC athlete who is coached by Steve Doig) – who both have world titles to their name – join the first cohort of selected athletes.

Following the announcement, Sammi said, “I’m so excited to be competing at my third Paralympic Games in Paris. Lots of my friends and family will be coming over to watch me and I can’t wait to get going now really feeling the fire!”

It’ll be a third consecutive Paralympics for Sammi (Samantha) whilst Ben will be a first time Paralympian in Paris, competing in the 1500m T20. Sammi will be aiming to build on the success of Tokyo 2020, where she reached the podium on two occasions: silver in the 400m T53 and bronze in the 100m T53. She will compete in three events in Paris – the 100m, 400m and 800m T53.

The second and final wave of para athletics selection take place on 22 July 2024 with the full team announced soon afterwards.

Penny Briscoe, Chef de Mission at ParalympicsGB, said: “I’m delighted to welcome such a strong group of experienced and talented Para athletes to the ParalympicsGB team for Paris 2024. All ten individuals have already shown what they are capable of at the highest level, so I am really excited to see what they can achieve at the Paralympic Games in Paris later this summer.”

Tommy Yule, Para Athletics Team Leader at the Paralympic Games, said: “Congratulations to all 10 athletes for earning their call-up to Paris 2024. They have all worked incredibly hard with their support networks to get to this point, so they should be proud of their achievement.

“With just over two months to go until the Games begin, we will be supporting and engaging with all these athletes’ in their preparations, to add the most value to ensure they are best prepared for the Games.”

A total of around 230 athletes from 19 sports are expected to make up the British team that will compete in Paris, with further names to be announced by ParalympicsGB in the next few weeks.

At Tokyo 2020 ParalympicsGB won medals across a record breaking 18 different sports – the highest number of any nation ever. Paralympics GB finished second on the medal table with 124 medals overall, including 41 gold, 38 silver and 45 bronze.

 

Scots selected – 

Women

Sammi Kinghorn (Rodger Harkins, Red Star) – T53 100m, 400m and 800m

Men

Ben Sandilands (Steve Doig, Fife) – T20 1500m

Photo montage of (left to right) Stephen Clegg, Toni Shaw, Louis Lawlor and Faye Rogers.

Four Scots Selected for ParalympicsGB Swimming Team for Paris 2024 Paralympics

Coinciding with 100 days to go to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, ParalympicsGB named a 26-strong Para swimming team on Monday (21st), including four Scottish athletes.

The four Scots that made the team include Stephen Clegg, Toni Shaw, Louis Lawlor and Faye Rogers.

Paris 2024 marks a third consecutive Games for Stephen, whereas it’s a second Paralympics  for both Toni and Louis. Despite being her debut Paralympics, Faye goes into Paris as current world champion following her success at Manchester 2023.

“I am so excited to be selected for my first Paralympics,” said Faye following the announcement.

“The last 3 years have been absolutely crazy so to end up here is just an amazing feeling. Bring on Paris!!”

Multiple Paralympic medallists, Stephen Clegg and Rebecca Redfern, alongside Rio 2016 gold medallist Alice Tai, rank as some of the more experienced heads lining up within a talented team.

Tokyo Paralympians Ellie Challis, Louise Fiddes, Grace Harvey, Suzanna Hext, Louis Lawlor and Toni Shaw complete the roster of athletes with prior Games experience – with Challis, Fiddes, Harvey and Shaw all having reached the podium three years ago at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Games which yielded a phenomenal 26 medals for ParalympicsGB in the pool.

Of the 15 debutants set to write their own chapter of Paralympic history in front of packed stands in Paris, William Ellard, Poppy Maskill and Faye Rogers do so as world champions following their successes at Manchester 2023 – with Rhys Darbey, Scarlett Humphrey, Cameron Vearncombe and Brock Whiston further members of the British team that competed at the home World Championships last summer heading for their first Paralympic Games in 100 days’ time. Scarlett will be joined in Paris by her identical twin sister Eliza Humphrey where they will be racing against each other in a number of events.

Iona Winnifrith is the youngest member of the swimming cohort selected for Paris 2024, with the 13-year-old having built upon impressive performances at April’s Aquatics GB Swimming Championships at the London Aquatics Centre, by racing to two European titles later last month in Madeira.

Olivia Newman-Baronius, Callie Ann-Warrington, Mark Tompsett and Harry Stewart equally all claimed European titles at their first senior international championships appearance in April, with Bruce Dee and Megan Neave additionally achieving podium finishes in Madeira as they now prepare to compete on the sport’s greatest stage this summer.

Double Paralympic champion, Maisie Summers-Newton said: “It’s an amazing feeling to be selected for a second Paralympic Games.

“I achieved my dream three years ago in Tokyo, and defending my titles is definitely the ambition, but without putting too much pressure on myself the focus is on enjoying my racing and delivering my own best performance – to be able to do that in front of family and friends this summer will be all the more special.”

ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission Penny Briscoe said: “I’m delighted that today, with exactly 100 days to go to this summer’s Paralympic Games, we can celebrate the first athletes to join the ParalympicsGB team for Paris 2024 – our swimming squad.

“Our 26 swimmers represent an exciting mix of youth and experience, and there’s no doubt they all have fantastic potential to make Great Britain proud in Paris this summer. I’m really excited to see the ParalympicsGB team start to take shape and look forward to welcoming athletes from all corners of the UK, across 19 sports in total, in the coming weeks and months.”

Aquatics GB Associate Performance Director Tim Jones said: “I’m delighted that ParalympicsGB are now announcing these 26 swimmers to compete in the swimming events in Paris in 100 days’ time.

“Our athlete cohort has evolved significantly since the Tokyo Games, and with 15 first-time Paralympians on the team, we know we have great potential to be very successful in Paris. Amongst our more experienced team members we’ve also seen some positive performance developments across this cycle to build on results from the past. We travel to the Games with a high-quality group of well-supported swimmers from a diverse range of training locations, which is testament to the hard work and commitment from a large number of clubs and their coaches.

“With the team now unveiled, we will forge ahead in the coming months with the comprehensive plans we have put in place for this important pre-Games preparation phase, and I have every confidence we will arrive in Paris ready to deliver our best possible performance.”

A total of around 230 athletes from 19 sports to are expected to make up the British team that will compete in Paris, with further names to be announced by ParalympicsGB in the next few weeks.

At Tokyo 2020 ParalympicsGB won medals across a record breaking 18 different sports – the highest number of any nation ever. ParalympicsGB finished second on the medal table with 124 medals overall, including 41 gold, 38 silver and 45 bronze.

ParalympicsGB Swimming squad:

Ellie Challis, Manchester Performance Centre (S3/SB2/SM3)

Stephen Clegg, University of Edinburgh (S12/SB12/SM12)

Rhys Darbey, Nofio Clwyd (S14/SB14/SM14)

Bruce Dee, Northampton SC (S6/SB6/SM6)

William Ellard, St Felix Swimming Club (S14/SB14/SM14)

Louise Fiddes, Hatfield SC (S14/SB14/SM14)

Grace Harvey, Manchester Performance Centre (S6/SB5/SM6)

Suzanna Hext, Tigersharks A.S.C. (S5/SB4/SM5)

Eliza Humphrey, Northampton SC (S11/SB11/SM11)

Scarlett Humphrey, Northampton SC (S11/SB11/SM11)

Tully Kearney, Loughborough University (S5/SB5/SM5)

Louis Lawlor, City of Glasgow ST (S14/SB14/SM14)

Poppy Maskill, Manchester Performance Centre (S14/SB14/SM14)

Olivia Newman-Baronius, Maxwell Swim Club (S14/SB14/SM14)

Megan Neave, Repton Swimming (S14/SB14/SM14)

Rebecca Redfern, Worcester SC (S13/SB13/SM13)

Faye Rogers, University of Aberdeen Performance (S10/SB10/SM10)

Toni Shaw, University of Aberdeen Performance (S9/SB9/SM9)

Harry Stewart, Plymouth Leander SC (S14/SB14/SM14)

Maisie Summers-Newton, Northampton SC (S6/SB6/SM6)

Alice Tai, Ealing SC (S8, SB8, SM8)

Mark Tompsett, Bolton Metro SS (S14/SB14/SM14)

Cameron Vearncombe, Manchester Performance Centre (S14/SB14/SM14)

Callie-Ann Warrington, RTW Monson SC (S10/SB10/SM10)

Brock Whiston, Barking and Dagenham/London Disability SC (S8, SB8, SM8)

Iona Winnifrith, Tonbridge SC (S7/SB7/SM7)