RNIB - See Sport Differently

Here on RNIB Connect Radio we are catching up with some of the Paralympics GB visually impaired medal winners from the Tokyo Paralympic Games to find out how they got into sport, what winning that medal was like out in Tokyo and their advice for other visually impaired people on how to get into sport at any level.

Our Toby Davey caught up with Chris Skelley who won Paralympics GB’s first Judo Gold medal.

Chris began by telling Toby about how he got into sport, starting judo at the age of 5, his parents encouraging him to take up Judo to build his confidence, socialise and mix with other children as Chris has a hearing impairment as well as his sight loss. In his late teens Chris was diagnosed with Ocular Albinism and it was when Chris was diagnosed that he says, ‘it was a dark time in his life, everything left his life apart from his Judo’.

Chris then talks about the lead up to the Tokyo Paralympic Games, turning the negative of the games, being delayed by a year into a positive and Chris says that the lead up to Tokyo has been the best preparation he has had so far going into a competition.

Chris then shares with Toby the background to his very emotional interview he gave after winning that Judo Gold medal, a lot of emotion pouring out after many things happening in his early life, losing his late coach only two weeks before Tokyo and many other things that made the win even more special for Chris. How sport has helped him in his life turning Judo from a hobby to a passion when he had to give up his training as a mechanic, and how sport has helped with his mental health and wellbeing.

Finally Chris gives his advice to other visually impaired people about getting into sport and what sport can give you if you just give sport a chance as well as his plans for hopefully a second gold Judo medal in Paris 2024.

Congratulations again Chris from everyone here at the RNIB on that first Paralympics GB Judo Gold medal.

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Here on RNIB Connect Radio we are catching up with some of the Paralympics GB visually impaired medal winners from the Tokyo Paralympic Games to find out how they got into sport, what winning that medal was like out in Tokyo and their advice for other visually impaired people on how to get into sport at any level.

Our Toby Davey caught up with Ellen Buttrick, who along with the rest of the Paralympics GB Mixed Coxed 4 rowing team won a Gold medal out on the water in Tokyo.

Ellen began by explaining to Toby that she was a very sporty child who wanted to try any sport but could not find anything she was really good at until she found rowing at the age of 17 when she signed up to join Leeds Rowing Team a week before the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Ellen was inspired by some of the London 2012 female rowers including Helen Glover who had only got into rowing 3 years prior to London, but it was the Paralympics that really inspired Ellen even more and she thought - wow these people are amazing imagine if I had a disability and I would love to do that and make the most of things - and two years later Ellen got that chance herself!

Ellen then tells Toby about being diagnosed with Stargardt’s in 2014, making it into the Paralympic rowing team, training up to and through the pandemic getting to Tokyo, competing out on the water and of course that final Gold medal race finishing 11 seconds ahead of second place USA. 

Ellen ends by sharing her advice to other visually impaired people on how to get into sport, what they might get out of sport and giving things a go even if you don’t think you might be good at a sport as you will meet friends that you may never normally meet in life. 

Congratulations again Ellen to you and the rest of the Paralympics GB Mixed Coxed 4 rowing team from everyone at the RNIB on that Paralympic Rowing Gold medal.

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Here on RNIB Connect Radio we are catching up with some of the Paralympics GB visually impaired medal winners from the Tokyo Paralympic Games to find out how they got into sport, what winning that medal was like out in Tokyo and their advice for other visually impaired people on how to get into sport at any level.

Our Toby Davey court up with Aileen McGlynn who with her Pilot Hellen Scott won a Silver Cycling medal in the velodrome in Tokyo.

Aileen began by telling Toby about getting on to a bicycle for the first time by borrowing her neighbour's child's bike, how at the age of 8 using her first Holy Communion money and savings to buy her own first proper bike, going on a 10-mile trip not long after buying that first bike to see one of her school friends and then joining a local cycling club.  

For Aileen it was watching the 2002 Commonwealth Games and seeing Chris Hoy win his Gold medal for Scotland that really got Aileen interested in cycling as a sport.

Aileen then talks about how she got in to Paralympic Cycling and breaking cycling records at her early Paralympic cycling team trials. The lead up to the Tokyo Paralympic Games with Aileen and her Pilot Helen Scott who only teamed up 12 weeks prior to flying out to Japan for the games.

Aileen shares with Toby what it was like out there in Tokyo during the games for her and Helen and of course what it was like winning that silver medal.

Aileen ends by passing on her advice to other visually impaired people about how to get into sport and her thoughts for the future on whether she will compete in Paris in 2024 for the next Paralympic Games.

Congratulations again Aileen from everyone at the RNIB on that Paralympic Cycling Silver medal.

(Image shows RNIB logo. 'RNIB' written in black capital letters over a white background and underlined with a bold pink line, with the words 'See differently' underneath)

Here on RNIB Connect Radio we are catching up with some of the Paralympics GB visually impaired medal winners from the Tokyo Paralympic Games to find out how they got into sport, what winning that medal was like out in Tokyo and their advice for other visually impaired people on how to get into sport at any level.

Our Toby Davey court up with Dan Pembroke who smashed Paralympic records and of course also won that Javelin  Gold medal too.

Dan began by telling Toby how he first got into sport at school and how he just missed  out on competing in the London 2012 Olympic Games due to an injury.  Why he decided to go travelling round the world after missing out on London 2012.  The deterioration of his RP while he was travelling which saw him come back to the UK with his fiancée   gaining a place at the Royal National College for the Blind, getting back into athletics, and making it into the team for the Tokyo Paralympic Games. 

Dan also shares with Toby what it was like out their competing in Tokyo, smashing those records and of course winning that Gold Medal too!

Congratulations again Dan from everyone at the RNIB on that Paralympic Javelin Gold medal and all the best for the next Athletics world Championships and the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. 

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RNIB Connect Rowers Barry Snell chats to the crew members of the Wreckin' Rowers, who are currently in full training, ahead of their upcoming Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, where they hope to raise over 100k for RNIB and the Severn Hospice.

The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is a 3000 mile race from the Canary Islands to Antigua.

Wrekin-Rowers have also released a short promotional video which featues audio description, click here to listen

Keep up to date with the latest news and events at www.wrekin-rowers.com

Image - Wrekin Rowers logo. An image of a boat with four people inside and underneath the words Wreckin Rowers. The words are written in a pale blue, against a darker blue background, which gives the impression the boat is at sea. there is also the outline of a wave above them.

Sports Reporter Tom Burton looks back at some of the Highlight's of the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, which saw ParalympicsGB finish second in the medals table, amassing 124 medals, including 41 golds.

Congratulations to all the athletes that have competed so splendidly at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games! 

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With more medals coming in for the Paralympics GB team out in Tokyo, here on RNIB Connect Radio we are catching up with GB medal winners.  

Our Toby Davey recently caught up with visually impaired Ellen Buttrick and the rest of the Paralympics GB Mixed Coxed 4 rowing team to chat with them about their fantastic Gold medal winning final race.

The team began by introducing themselves and explaining their role in the mixed coxed 4 boat from Ollie Stanhope - Stroke, James Fox, Ellen Buttrick (VI) Bow, Giedre Rakauskaite to their cox Erin Kennedy.

The team talk about the pressures and expectation they were under going into the final race tipped for Gold medal as GBR have not been beaten at a world championships since 2010 with Gold in London and Rio respectively.

Erin talked about their game plan for their final race ware they finished 11 seconds ahead of Silver medallists USA.

Ellen described how it was for her out on the water for that final race as the visually impaired member of the crew.

The Team also talked about how they had to train and compete in very different circumstances due to the delay of the Tokyo Paralympic Games and the restrictions due to Covid.  

Congratulations again to Ellen and the rest of the Paralympics GB Mixed Coxed 4 Rowing Team from everyone here at the RNIB.

To find out more about getting into rowing as a visually impaired or disabled person do visit the British Rowing website below or search in your browser for British Adaptive Rowing.

https://www.britishrowing.org

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With more medals coming in for the Paralympics GB team out in Tokyo, here on RNIB Connect Radio we are catching up with GB visually impaired medal winners.  

Our Toby Davey recently caught up with Aileen McGlynn and her pilot Helen Scott to chat with them about their Paralympic Silver Medal in the 1000M Time Trial.

Aileen and Helen won their Silver medal after only teaming up together twelve weeks prior to flying out to Japan for the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Aileen began by describing to Toby their final Silver medal winning time trial and a real achievement for them both with a short time training together prior to Tokyo. Helen talked about how they gelled together both on and off the tandem and how they had to put past Paralympics experiences behind them and concentrate on Tokyo.  

They also shared their thoughts on how the Paralympic GB VI Cyclists have done in the velodrome and whether they will be going for Paris in 2024.

Congratulations again Aileen and Helen on that Paralympic Silver medal from everyone here at the RNIB.

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As the Tokyo Paralympics get underway here on RNIB Connect Radio we are catching up with GB visually impaired medal winners.  

Our Toby Davey recently caught up with Steve Bate and Adam Duggleby who won the first visually impaired GB Team medal with a Silver in the tandem 4,000m individual pursuit final. 

Steve began by telling Toby what that final race was like and not bad at all coming away with a Silver medal. Adam gave a brief outline of how they had done in the first few races of the games and what it is like racing in the stadium with just a few people in the crowd and how of course it would be great to have a larger crowd there, but it is what it is.

Steve mentioned that their Silver medal would fit nicely at home in his medal cabinet along with his other Paralympic Gold and Bronze medals and how they were both looking forward to their next event in their favoured race the time trial where they are current World Champions.

Congratulations Steve and Adam from everyone here at the RNIB.

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As the Paralympics get underway in Tokyo, we are hearing from Paralympians from across the years who are sharing their thoughts on what will no doubt be a very different event this time around.

RNIB Connect Radio's Steven Scott spoke to visually impaired Judo champion Marc Powell who took part in the London 2012 games, to find out his views on this year’s event.

You can follow the Paralympic Games on Channel 4 from the opening ceremony, the catch-up show ’Today at Tokyo’, ’The Last Leg’, and the closing ceremony.  With enhanced audio commentary for the ceremonies and audio description for ’Today at Tokyo’ and ’The Last Leg’.   

For full details visit: https://paralympics.channel4.com/ 

Image shows Marc dressed in his judogi at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.