British judo squad aiming for Rio 2016

“The squad always give their best and with one year to go I am excited as to what they can achieve in Rio.”

With under a year to go to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the British Judo Paralympic team is looking forward to the prospect of representing Great Britain next year.

With four of the players currently ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight categories, the team are well placed going into the last qualifying competition of their cycle at the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) Judo European Championships, which will take place 25-30 November in Odivelas, Portugal.

One of the athletes currently in qualifying position is Paralympic silver and bronze medallist Sam Ingram (men’s under 90kg). The two-time Paralympian is looking forward to the prospect of competing at his third Paralympic Games and going for that elusive gold medal.

"With the Games getting closer every day, I think excitement is building throughout the whole of the team,” Ingram said. “Obviously I have competed in similar events in the past and I'm sure I will enjoy this Paralympics just as much as Beijing and London. I'm sure these Games will have its own unique South American style."

British Judo Paralympic head coach Ian Johns feels his team have shown their ability to match the match the best in the world, including winning two silver medals and one bronze at the IBSA World Games in South Korea in May, and is looking forward to seeing how they compete in Rio next year.

“With one year to go to the Rio Games, we have four athletes out of five in strong qualifying positions leading into the European Championships in November,” Johns said. “It is an exciting prospect that one year from now our athletes will be ready to take on the rest of the world for the title of Paralympic champion. As we have shown over this qualification period the guys are massively proud to pull on the GB tracksuit and have proven we are a force to be reckoned with.

“The squad always give their best and with one year to go I am excited as to what they can achieve in Rio.”

Current British Judo visually impaired team rankings (as of August 2015):

Jonathan Drane (under 81kg): No. 6

Sam Ingram (under 90kg): No. 5

Chris Skelley (under 100kg): No. 6

Jack Hodgson (over 100kg): No. 6

Natalie Greenhough (under 70kg): No. 11