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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Bolton, ENG |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Horwich RMI Harriers: Bolton, ENG |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. (btplc.com, 31 Dec 2009) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He took up athletics at school and later joined a club. |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | O (Facebook profile, 29 Sep 2013) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Grant Barker [personal], GBR, from 2013; Steve Thomas |
Impairment Information | |
| Type of Impairment | Limb deficiency |
| Classification | T47 |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "It's not about the disability, it's about the ability." (blottr.com, 23 Aug 2012) |
| Impairment | His right arm has been amputated below the elbow. (paralympics.org.uk, 10 Nov 2012) |
| Other information | ATHLETICS BREAK He began a law degree in 2014 and took a break from the sport until graduating in 2017. "I did my law degree. I spoke to my parents, my coach and Paula [Dunn, then Great Britain Para athletics head coach] and we agreed it was more beneficial for me at that time in my life to get my degree done and then go back to athletics. The degree was a one and done, whereas success in athletics could take another 10 years so it was a better decision to do my degree then, rather than doing my whole athletics career and then starting my studies." (britishathletics.org.uk, 14 Jul 2020) |
| Ambitions | To compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (Instagram profile, 05 Jan 2020) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | Law - Nottingham Trent University: England |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | He was encouraged to try sprinting at age 15 by Great Britain Para athletics head coach Paula Dunn. "I started out in high jump. That's what I was discovered for. Paula looked at my running times and thought they were good, so after a conversation with my coach I started sprinting and stopped jumping. I don't think I could go back and do it now." |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Learning Japanese. (britishathletics.org.uk, 14 Jul 2020) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Competing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. "As not only a Para athlete, but a black Para athlete, it was first time I was ever in any kind of limelight, and I probably look on it as the most enjoyable thing I've ever done. It set up the rest of my career going forward because it gave me the confidence I needed, but also just being around a ton of other black athletes, I felt massively included." (teamengland.org, 30 Oct 2020) |