Piers Gilliver
Sport: Wheelchair Fencing
Event: Epee, foil
Date of birth: 17.09.1994
Place of birth: Forest of Dean
Coach: Peter Rome
Date selected for Rio: July 5
Twitter: @PiersGilliver
Biography:
Piers first tried wheelchair fencing in 2010 and was selected to make his international debut two years later. He was part of the BPA’s Paralympic Inspiration Programme for London 2012 and went on to be crowned Junior World Champion in 2013.
He has been training at the University of Bath for the past 18 months, with some of his fencing sessions being with the Pentathlon GB squad as they prepared for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He qualified for his Paralympic Games debut ranked number one in the world.
Piers’ brother Miles is a ballet dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and staged a benefit performance earlier this year to raise money towards Piers’ Rio qualification campaign.
Road to Rio
Since moving his training base to the University of Bath in early 2015, Piers has enjoyed incredible success.
World Cup gold medals in Eger, Hungary and Pisa, Italy alongside Grand Prix titles in Warsaw and Hong Kong meant the 21-year old ended 2015 ranked number one in the world.
Medals in two World Cups in the first half of 2016 and at the European Championships secured Piers’ place at Rio and in July Team GB officially confirmed his selection.
Notable achievements
2012: World Cup bronze in Eger, Hungary.
2013: Junior World Champion; World Cup bronze in Warsaw, Poland.
2014: World Cup gold in Eger, Hungary; World Cup silver in Lonato, Italy; Grand Prix gold in Hong Kong; Grand Prix gold in Warsaw; World U23 Championships silver in Budapest, Hungary.
2015: World Championships silver in Eger, Hungary; World Cup gold in Pisa, Italy; World Cup bronze in Sharjah, UAE.
2016: European Championships silver in Torino, Italy; World Cup gold in Warsaw, Poland; World Cup silver in Eger, Hungary; World Cup bronze in Laval, Canada.
For more information, visit Piers’ website [external].
