GB has a new European wheelchair fencing champion in the shape of Team Bath-based Dmitri Coutya, who took his debut continental crown in Terni - a town in the southern part of the Umbrian region of Italy - on Wednesday. Having earlier won bronze in the category B foil, losing out to Italy’s Marco Cima in the semis by just a single point, Coutya lined up for the category B men’s epee. He faced Andrei...
The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games start today and there are high hopes of medal success among the University of Bath-based athletes past and present competing for ParalympicsGB over the next 11 days. Polly Maton, a 16-year-old athlete coached at the Sports Training Village by Colin Baross, is in action when competition gets fully under way on Thursday and will contest the T47 long jump final at 10.11pm BST. She returns to the Olympic Stadium on...
Britain’s wheelchair fencers will fly out to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games today in peak condition after attending a final preparation camp at the University of Bath. Piers Gilliver and Dimitri Coutya, ranked number one and two in the world in their respective disciplines, were joined by last-minute call-up Gemma Collis for a five-day get-together at the Sports Training Village. As well as train in the fencing salle, the Paralympics GB trio also received advice...
Teenage sprinters Sophie Kamlish and Polly Maton today became the latest University of Bath-based athletes to be selected by ParalympicsGB for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Nineteen-year-old Kamlish – who competed at London 2012 (pictured) – had her place confirmed in the second wave of athletics selections, three days after setting a new T44 100m national record at the IPC Grand Prix Final. That run of 13.35 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London was the third fastest...
University of Bath-based wheelchair fencer Piers Gilliver won another IWASF World Cup gold medal when he travelled to Poland for his final competitive outing before the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The 21-year-old, who finished the two-year Paralympic qualifying campaign ranked as the world’s number one epee fencer, was in fantastic form in Warsaw as he overcame a host of potential Rio medal rivals to take the title. After winning all six of his poule bouts...
Nicole Walters has become the third University of Bath-based athlete to be selected for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games after being named in the history-making para-triathlon squad. The Sport & Exercise Science graduate, who still trains at the University, will act as guide for visually-impaired Melissa Reid when the sport makes its debut on the Paralympic programme this summer. Former Team Bath swimmer David Hill has also been selected in the ParalympicsGB team – he...
Piers Gilliver – the world’s number-one ranked wheelchair fencer – today became the latest University of Bath-based athlete to be selected for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The 21-year-old has enjoyed tremendous success during the past two years, winning nine medals in 12 international competitions – including three back-to-back World Cup titles – to comfortably finish top of the epee qualifying rankings. “I am so happy to be part of the ParalympicsGB team for Rio...
University of Bath-based wheelchair fencer Piers Gilliver can begin preparing for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in earnest after finishing his qualification campaign ranked number one in the world. The 21-year-old won a silver medal at the IWAS European Championships in Torino, Italy on Thursday to confirm his status as the top epee fencer during the two-year qualification period. It was Gilliver’s ninth medal in 12 ranking competitions since September 2014 and his third podium...
University of Bath-based wheelchair fencer Piers Gilliver won his fifth World Cup medal of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualifying campaign after another impressive display in Canada. Epee bronze in Laval maintained the 21-year-old’s ranking as number one in the world and all but wrapped up qualification for Rio with just two tournaments – the European and American Championships – to go. Gilliver, who went into his latest competition as the top seed, won all...
Qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games is within touching distance for University of Bath-based wheelchair fencer Piers Gilliver after he won another IWAS World Cup medal in Hungary on Friday. Silver in the epee competition in Eger was the 21-year-old’s sixth medal of the Paralympic qualification period and cements his status as number one in the world with just four tournaments remaining before Rio. The top four fencers on May 31 will earn Paralympic...