Three members of the Leicester Tigers Wheelchair Team will represent ParalympicGB at this summer’s Paralympic Games in Toyko.
Gavin Walker will co-captain the national side alongside Chris Ryan, with Tigers players Nicholas Cummins and Jamie Stead also selected.
All three Tigers have been a key part of the growth of the sport, which has seen Leicester build a proven reputation as the centre of the sport.
Hosting international fixtures and matched with domestic success, the Leicester Tigers Wheelchair Rugby team also had to overcome the postponement of the most recent season, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Walker, Cummins and Stead will join up with their international teammates for the 16th Summer Paralympics will be the second time the Games have been hosted by the Japanese capital.
The Games will take place from August 24 – September 5 where 537 events from 22 sports will be contested.
Wheelchair Rugby was introduced to the Paralympic programme as a test event at Atlanta 1996 and the ParalympicsGB team has competed at every Games since, finishing fifth at Rio 2016.
More recently in 2019, Great Britain were crowned European champions - retaining the title for the third successive occasion, and their seventh overall. Ten of the athletes announced today were part of that gold medal-winning squad.
ParalympicGB Head coach Paul Shaw added: “Congratulations to all the athletes who have been selected. They have remained totally committed throughout and have worked hard to compensate for the loss of team training and competition.
“There have been many virtual tactical sessions and a great deal of ‘home alone’ physical and mental preparation. It’s been good to have the squad back since January – they have worked incredibly hard and we know we can do something special in Tokyo.”
