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 or not it’s in my private or skilled life, one factor I’ve not often didn’t reveal is my capability to bounce again.
It was a dream come true to symbolize ParalympicsGB at Tokyo 2020, being granted the chance to play the game I really like on the most important stage potential.
That mentioned, Tokyo didn’t precisely go to plan for me. Competing in entrance of empty stands because of the restrictions in place from COVID-19, I didn’t make it past the group stage, seeing my hopes of a debut Paralympic medal finish prematurely.
It was a tricky tablet to swallow, made even tougher by the absence of my assist group, who have 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 holding my motivation sky excessive. I’ve acquired an image of gold medals as my cellphone’s screensaver in order that every single day, 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 arduous as I can in direction of a dream that I’ve had since childhood.
I may need suffered Paralympic disappointment three years in the past, however on the subject of overcoming adversity, I’ve a reasonably spectacular monitor document.
After I was 14, I needed to have corrective surgical procedure on my decrease legs – a process that’s fairly frequent amongst these with dwarfism.
It left me in a wheelchair for 9 months and will have simply derailed my push to develop 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 means 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 develop into a two-time Paralympian, it’s secure to say that main surgical procedure did something however halt my desires in Para badminton.
This summer season, avenging heartbreak from three years prior will probably be my high precedence, seeking to deliver dwelling {hardware} in entrance of a packed-out area.
It is going to be a very totally different expertise to the one skilled within the Far East, with associates, household and followers all in a position to come and assist in Paris.
Added strain there could also be, however with my family members within the crowds, I will probably be much more pushed to realize success and write myself into Paralympic historical past.
