British Paralympics
British Athletics have named 28 London 2012 medallists in the 48-strong team for the IPC Athletics World Championships, which take place in Lyon, France from 19-28 July. Those selected from last summer’s Paralympic Games include gold medallists Mickey Bushell (coach: Fred Periac), Hannah Cockroft (Jenni Banks), Aled Davies (Anthony Hughes), Jonnie Peacock (Steve Fudge), Josie Pearson (Anthony Hughes) and Richard Whitehead (Keith Antoine).
Read Winter Paralympian Tim Farr's blog from stage seven of Deloitte Ride Across Britain 2013…. I think I can safely say that day seven of the Deloitte Ride Across Britain was my toughest day on a bike ever. Each time I do a stage of the Deloitte RAB it seems to become tougher and seems to take the body a little bit longer to recover…it makes me realise more than ever that I am built for going downhill rather than up
British Para-Canoe athletes excelled at the Canoe Sprint European Championships at Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal, in their first international competition of the season. The standard and number of competitors in the sport has grown over the last few years with news of its inclusion in the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016.
New figures from Sport England show that 15.3 million people are playing sport at least once a week, with good progress among young people. The figures – covering the period to mid-April – show that 1.4 million more men and women are playing sport every week than in 2005 when London won the bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and that most of the increase seen around the Games in 2012 has been retained. When the figures were last published in December 2012 they showed 750,000 more people playing sport than the previous year
British athletes shine in Segovia. Day 1 – Friday Great Britain Tandem pairing Lora Turnham and Corrine Hall took a comfortable win in the B/Vi Time Trial with a 45 second margin over the Canadian world Time Trial champions.
The Great Britain Para-Triathlon team came away from sun drenched Alanya, Turkey with six gold, four silver and two bronze medals from the ETU Para-Triathlon European Championships. Having come to para-Triathlon from other sports, new team members Lauren Steadman, Phil Hogg and Dave Ellis all claimed gold over the 750 metre swim, 20 kilometre bike and 5 kilometre run. Sarah Pearson was another new team member to cross the line first, winning the Tri3 category.
Read London 2012 Wheelchair Fencing star Craig McCann’s blog on his experiences of Deloitte Ride Across Britain 2013….As with many participants in this years Deloitte Ride Across Britain I entered for a number or personal reasons, but whereas many entered to raise money for charity, I am here to both share the journey with, and say thank you to, those raising funds for the British Paralympic Association. After a long day travelling from London up to the northern most part of Scotland, in a journey where our planes seemed to shrink the further north we got, both my tandem pilot Alex and I arrived in a very windy John O’Groats.
The BPA is delighted that its Director of Sport, Penny Briscoe, has today confirmed that she will receive an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. The honour reflects her many years of service to BPA and the Paralympic movement.
British Wheelchair Basketball has won the bid to host the 2015 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships. Over 400 elite male and female athletes from across Europe will be based at the University of Worcester and will play at the recently opened University of Worcester Arena. It comes after it was announced that the University had been selected as the GB Wheelchair Basketball team training venue in the lead up to the 2016 Paralympic Games and preceding World and European Championships.
Great Britain's Mark Colbourne took a stunning victory in the C1 Road Race on day two of the 2013 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup in Merano. Mark Narrowly beat German rival Michael Teuber in a sprint finish at the end of the 10 lap town based centre circuit, to take his first road race win.
Great Britain's David Stone took silver and Crystal Lane bronze in the third and final day of the first round of the 2013 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup in Italy. Day three started with the Women’s combined C4-5 road race. Crystal Lane was looking to build on her result in the time trial with another strong performance in the road race
Scottish FA Disability Development Officer David McCardle, in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport, has named his Scotland Cerebral Palsy, Stroke and Acquired Brain Injury National Squad for the Intercontinental Championships in Barcelona taking place between July 24 and August 11. Scotland, who finished seventh four years ago, will take on Netherlands, Canada and Spain in Group A in what is their second visit to the tournament. David said: “The championships will be a challenge with the 16 best teams in the world attending.
Paralympic silver medallist Karen Darke has been involved in a collision with a car in Cumbria. The hand-cyclist was out on a training ride on the evening of Tuesday 4 June when she was hit from behind by a motorist near Clifton Dykes in Penrith. The incident has left Karen in hospital with injuries to her neck, arm and shoulder
Great Britain will have three Paralympians contesting the wheelchair tennis doubles event at The Championships, Wimbledon this year after Gordon Reid and Lucy Shuker gained direct entry with their respective doubles partners while Jordanne Whiley was awarded a wild card. After making a tremendous debut at Roland Garros last week, where he reached his first Grand Slam Singles semi-final and his first Grand Slam Doubles final, Reid has moved up to a career high Doubles world ranking of No. 5 this week
The GB Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team will defend their 2011 European Championship title with a team that extends from six-time Paralympian Simon Munn to 18 year old Harry Brown. Heading to Frankfurt, Germany, from the June 28 – July 8, Haj Bhania will make his European Championship debut as Head Coach for the GB Men’s Team which includes five new faces from that of London 2012. In addition to Brown who, at just 16 helped the team to European gold in Israel two years ago, the team has been bolstered by the return of 2008 Paralympic bronze medallists Joe Bestwick and Simon Brown, as well as newcomers Martin Edwards and Kyle Marsh, making their senior European debut
BPA Chairman Tim Reddish is taking on the challenge of Deloitte Ride Across Britain 2013. Read on to see how he is feeling on the eve of the event.
British No. 1 Gordon Reid made a winning Grand Slam singles debut at Roland Garros on Wednesday, beating world No. 9 Michael Jeremiasz of France 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach Thursday's semi-finals against either defending champion Stephane Houdet or Gustavo Fernandez
The GB Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team is ready to send the world a warning signal at the 2013 European Championships (Frankfurt, June 28 – July 8, 2013) with a young team selected to build upon last year’s Paralympic success. The current European Bronze Medallists, Great Britain heads to Frankfurt at the end of the month with Head Coaches Nigel Smith and Joe Jayaratne having combined a strong mix of experience and fresh blood to create a formidable future threat.
Great Britain’s powerlifters performed superbly at the European Championships in Russia, returning with two medals, a clutch of personal bests and several records broken in their first major competition on the road to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. London 2012 veterans Natalie Blake and Ali Jawad secured silver and bronze medals respectively, and both broke European records in their categories before other competitors overtook their mark a short time later. Newark-based Blake secured silver with a lift of 93kg, having put in three good lifts in Russia to continue her excellent form, and she will be aiming for a new personal best at the British Championships
The GB Para Table Tennis Team completed its mini European Tour with four medals in the Team events at the Bayreuth Open in Germany including gold for Jane Campbell and Sara Head in the women’s class 1-3 event, gold for Rob Davies in the men’s class 1 and gold for David Wetherill in the men’s class 6. Aaron McKibbin also picked up a bronze in the men’s class 8 Team event to add to the bronze he won in the Singles earlier in the week. Wetherill, 23, from Torpoint, was making his first competitive appearance since London 2012 and was understandably a little rusty at the start of the tournament