Ben Rushgrove

Sport/Event: Athletics, T36 100m and 200m

Date and Place of Birth: 1988, Bath, UK

Coached by: Rob Ellchuk

Course of Study: BSc (Hons) in Sports Performance

Club: City of Bath AC, Team Bath

Ben’s exploits on the international stage, including medals at two Paralympic Games, have made him a hugely popular and influential figure at the University of Bath, where he both studied and trained.

Ben has cerebral palsy and competed in the T36 classification disability events. His first senior international medal was a bronze in the T36 200m at the 2006 IPC World Championships in the Netherlands. He followed that up two years later with silver in the T36 100m on his Paralympic Games debut in Beijing.

Voted University of Bath Sports Personality of the Year 2009, he graduated in December of that year with a BSc (Hons) in Sports Performance.

He competed at his second Paralympic Games at London 2012 and again came home with a medal, this time taking bronze in the T36 200m final in a personal best of 24.83.

Ben, who was coached throughout his career by Rob Ellchuk, was one of the first inductees into the University of Bath Hall of Fame for Sport in May 2014 before retiring from athletics the following year.

Career highlights:

Paralympic Games
Silver              T36 100m     Beijing 2008
Bronze           T36 200m     London 2012

IPC World Championships
Bronze           T36 200m     Assen 2006
Silver              T36 100m     Christchurch 2011
Bronze           T36 200m     Christchurch 2011

IPC European Championships
Bronze           T36 200m     Stadskanaal 2012