ParalympicsGB name squad for Paris 2024 Games with record number of female athletes | Olympics News
ParalympicsGB has confirmed a squad of 215 athletes for the Paris 2024 Games, with a record 46 per cent of the team female.
ParalympicsGB will be represented in 19 of the 22 sports that make up the Games, with para-cycling, para-canoe and para-rowing having the largest squads ever.
Thirteen-year-old para-swimmer Iona Winnifrith is the youngest member of the GB team and one of 14 teenagers selected overall for the event, which runs from August 28 to September 8.
The oldest athlete is 54-year-old para-canoeist Jeanette Chippington, who will take part in her eighth Paralympics after making her debut in para-swimming at the 1988 event in Seoul.
Dame Sarah Storey will compete at her ninth consecutive Games – the 46-year-old won three events at Tokyo 2020 to take her medal tally to 28 across cycling and previous event swimming, 17 of which are gold.
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Penny Briscoe, Chef de Mission for ParalympicsGB at Paris 2024 said: “In the three years since the delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games I have been privileged to witness outstanding performances by so many of our athletes at world and European level as they worked so hard to secure qualification for Paris 2024.
“Now that time has come, and we are days away from the start of what I believe will be a spectacular celebration of Para sport at the most competitive Paralympic Games ever, which will be enjoyed by fans both in France and around the world.
Chris Skelley is aiming to retain his judo title for ParalympicsGB in Paris, saying the sport has saved him.
“Paris 2024 promises to be a landmark Paralympic Games with our highest representation of female athletes ever and a host of talented athletes seeking to achieve personal-best performances in one of the world’s great cities.
“More than a third of the athletes in the ParalympicsGB team will make their Games debuts in Paris, and I am proud of the support these athletes – as well as our experienced Paralympians – will receive from the network of staff both in the UK and in France who have been working tirelessly to ensure ParalympicsGB is best prepared both on and off the field of play.
Sky Sports News’ Miriam Walker-Khan details 10 things you may not have known about the Paralympic Games.
“With Paris just a short journey across the Channel, I know many fans, friends and family will travel to France to support the team and enjoy the action in the many iconic venues that the city has to offer. I can’t wait to see the Games get under way.”