Locals head out to Beijing
Published Date:
21 August 2008
Nottinghamshire - and the Mansfield area - will be well represented at the Paralympic Games in Beijing next month, with 12athletes from the county - four locals among them - set to fly out to the Far East in the next week for the Games, which start on September 6.
Discus throwers Chris Martin (Mansfield) and Dan West (Nottingham), wheelchair basketball players Joe Bestwick and Matt Byrne (both Nottingham), swimmers Charlotte Henshaw (Mansfield) and Sam Hynd (Kirkby), table tennis players Arnie Chan (Mansfield) and James Rawson (Nottingham), powerlifter Natalie Blake (Newark) and wheelchair rugby player Troye Collins (Retford) are all part of the 206-strong ParalympicsGB team for Beijing.
Athens 2004 silver medallist Dan West and Sydney 2000 gold medallist Chris Martin will come up against each other in the F33 and 34 discus competition on the second day of action at the Games.
Swimmers Henshaw and Hynd will both be making their Paralympic Games debuts in China while experienced Paralympians Chan and Rawson, will both compete in their sixth consecutive Games.
These two will also be competing in the same event in Beijing - the men's class 3 singles - before teaming up to compete in the men's class 3 team competition.
While Byrne was part of the men's wheelchair basketball team that won bronze in Athens, 24-year-old Bestwick will be making his Paralympic debut as part of the team.
This will be the third Paralympics for both Natalie Blake, who competes in the women's up to 48kg powerlifting class and Troye Collins, who will be aiming to win Britain's first wheelchair rugby Paralympic medal.
ParalympicsGB will be represented in 18 of the 20 sports at the Beijing Games, including five-a-side football for the first time at the Paralympics and rowing, which makes its Games debut.
The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games opens on September 6 and closes on September 17.
At the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, Britain finished second in the medal table with a total of 35 golds, 30 silver and 29 bronze medals.
With competitive standards continually rising and the dominant Chinese team taking the home advantage ParalympicsGB recognises that the 2008 Paralympics will be one of its biggest challenges yet.
For more information about these athletes, or any of the ParalympicsGB team for Beijing, visit www.paralympics.org.uk
The full article contains 386 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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Last Updated:
21 August 2008 11:33 AM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
Mansfield
