ParalympicsGB Selects Band of Brothers

Three sets of brothers were amongst 20 athletes to be selected to represent ParalympicsGB in Boccia, Judo and Powerlifting at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. 12 Apr 2012

Stephen McGuire and his brother Peter have both been selected to represent ParalympicsGB

ⒸGBBoccia

“The results at these major events are real indicator of the potential of the team to succeed in London.”

The British Paralympic Association announced the names of nine boccia players, five judoka and six powerlifters on Wednesday (11 April) who will represent Great Britain at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The line-up included the Ingram and Powell brothers in Judo and the Macguire brothers in Boccia.

Sam Ingram won Paralympic bronze in Beijing which spurred on his brother Joe to return to the sport. Meanwhile brothers Dan and Marc Powell have both been selected for their first Games, but are no strangers to the Paralympics as their father Terry Powell competed in both Seoul and Atlanta. The squad is completed by Ben Quilter, current European and World Champion in the -60kg category.

“All players have worked tremendously hard to gain selection to London 2012 and have amassed a fantastic haul of medals on the World and European stage during the qualification period,” said Dave Sanders, Team Leader for Judo.

“The results at these major events are real indicator of the potential of the team to succeed in London.”

The Boccia brothers of Peter and Stephen McGuire will compete in the BC3 and BC4 events, and are part of a nine-strong squad that includes reigning Paralympic gold medallists in the BC1/BC2 Team event Nigel Murray, David Smith, Dan Bentley and Zoe Robinson. Jessica Hunter, Scott McCowan and Jacob Thomas were also selected.

“GB Boccia is very confident that the selected athletes will do ParalympicsGB proud in London,” said Matt Hammond, Team Leader for GB Boccia.

“With GB ranked in the World top three in five of the seven events and with rapidly developing athletes in the BC3 class we should be competitive across the board.”

Since 2008, GB Boccia has focussed on consolidating strong performances in Beijing in the BC1 and BC2 categories while also extending the squad to include top BC3 and BC4 athletes. BC4 is for athletes that have impairments other than cerebral palsy and BC3 is for athletes who use a ramp to play the sport.

Part of this recruitment has been done through the joint UK Sport and British Paralympic Association talent search, Paralympic Potential, which was launched in 2009 and identified Jessica Hunter and Jacob Thomas, who both then went through the GB Boccia Fast Track programme.

In Powerlifting, the six-strong squad includes world record holder Anthony Peddle, who is selected for his seventh Paralympic Games.

The Powerlifting team has also been consolidating their squad since Beijing, and powerlifters have attended all three of the BPA preparation camps at the University of Bath as part of developing their athletes for London 2012.

“We are delighted that all four athletes who represented Great Britain in Beijing have qualified for London 2012 in addition to one or two new athletes,” said Fiona Lothian, Team Leader for British Weightlifting.

“Our experience of the BPA preparation camps has convinced us that this will be the best place to put the finishing touches to our Games preparation. With the home crowd behind us I am convinced we can build on our recent performances to deliver good results in London.”

Today’s announcement brings the current total of ParalympicsGB athletes for London 2012 to 80 – nearly a third of the anticipated eventual team size.

The full list of athletes is:

Judo

Sam Ingram

Joe Ingram

Dan Powell

Marc Powell

Ben Quilter

Boccia

Dan Bentley

Jessica Hunter

Scott McCowan