23 August, 2024
There at the moment are simply 5 days till the 2024 Paralympics get underway in Paris. The ParalympicsGB badminton squad has been chosen, together with three returning Paralympians and one debutant, and we’ll hear from every of them in a weblog on the Badminton England web site. Subsequent up, it’s Jack Shephard, who represented ParalympicsGB as badminton made its Paralympic debut in Tokyo…
Whether or not it’s in my private or skilled life, one factor I’ve not often did not reveal is my capability to bounce again.
It was a dream come true to characterize ParalympicsGB at Tokyo 2020, being granted the chance to play the game I like on the most important stage attainable.
That stated, Tokyo didn’t precisely go to plan for me. Competing in entrance of empty stands as a result of restrictions in place from COVID-19, I did not make it past the group stage, seeing my hopes of a debut Paralympic medal finish prematurely.
It was a tricky capsule to swallow, made even more durable by the absence of my assist group, who had been pressured to look at on from 6,000 miles away.
However as I put together to return to the Paralympic stage this summer season, earlier heartache solely acts as my rocket gas as I set my sights on the rostrum.
The reinforcement of my targets is pivotal in maintaining my motivation sky excessive. I’ve bought an image of gold medals as my cellphone’s screensaver in order that daily, gold is the very first thing I see.
It will get me up within the morning, pushes me to coaching and forces me to work as laborious as I can in direction of a dream that I’ve had since childhood.
I might need suffered Paralympic disappointment three years in the past, however in terms of overcoming adversity, I’ve a fairly spectacular monitor report.
Once I was 14, I needed to have corrective surgical procedure on my decrease legs – a process that’s fairly widespread amongst these with dwarfism.
It left me in a wheelchair for 9 months and will have simply derailed my push to change into an elite athlete.
However after a strenuous rehab interval, which noticed me take as many additional physio and coaching classes as I might, I clawed my approach again to full power.
Simply 5 years later, I claimed my first World Championship Singles title in 2017, earlier than repeating the feat in 2019.
Now, as I put together to change into a two-time Paralympian, it’s protected to say that main surgical procedure did something however halt my desires in Para badminton.
This summer season, avenging heartbreak from three years prior shall be my prime precedence, seeking to convey house {hardware} in entrance of a packed-out enviornment.
It is going to be a totally completely different expertise to the one skilled within the Far East, with mates, household and followers all in a position to come and assist in Paris.
Added stress there could also be, however with my family members within the crowds, I shall be much more pushed to attain success and write myself into Paralympic historical past.