An additional two welsh athletes will now compete for ParalympicsGB at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, after late selections by the British Paralympic Association.
James Ball and Gemma Collis are the two welsh athletes who were announced as part of ParalympicsGB, taking the number of welsh athletes going to Rio to 26 and the final team size or ParalympicsGB to 264.
James Ball alongside pilot Craig MacLean will be competing in the Cycling, B Road & Track with events to be confirmed and Gemma Collis will compete in women's class A Epee, wheelchair fencing.
The selections are a result of the decision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to withdraw membership from the Russian NPC, a decision which was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) yesterday. The dismissal of the Russian NPC case means that competition places originally allocated to Russian athletes have been reallocated to other nations.
All British athletes selected today have been in contention for a place in the ParalympicsGB team and only narrowly missed out on selection earlier this year.
Chef de Mission Penny Briscoe commented: “All of these athletes have trained incredibly hard over several years to be in contention for a place on the team. I’m delighted that they will join ParalympicsGB in just two weeks’ time.
“They have continued to train in their sport programmes and I am confident they will be ready to show what talented athletes they all are when competition in Rio begins.”
