By Owen Morgan
Nine Welsh athletes have been named in the Great Britain team for the World Para Athletics European Championships in Germany next month.
The team heading to Berlin includes a trio of Welsh world champions in the shape of Olivia Breen, Hollie Arnold and Aled Davies.
Breen won gold in the T38 long jump at the IPC World Championships in London and finished on top of the podium again for Wales at this year’s Commonwealth Games.
The City of Portsmouth athlete previously won world championship gold in Doha where she was part of the Great Britain 4x100m relay team.
Breen will run in the 100m but unfortunately won’t be able to compete in the long jump due to a knee injury.
Arnold is a three-time world champion and holder of the F46 javelin world record, which she set with her final throw of the competition in winning gold for Wales at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The Blackheath and Bromley athlete also won gold at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.
Aled Davies is the reigning European Champion in both the shot and discus who boasts a staggering array of titles, including being a three-time double world champion.
Other Welsh athletes included in the team who have experience on the world stage are Jordan Howe, Steve Morris, Rhys Jones Laura Sugar and Sabrina Fortune.
Howe, a Disability Sport Wales Para Academy athlete coached by Christian Malcolm, won a silver medal in the 100m at last year’s World Championships in London and has four European Championship bronze medals to his name.
Cardiff AAC and middle distance athlete Steve Morris has a host of experience at the very highest level.
At last year’s IPC World Championships he finished fifth in the 800m, fourth in the 1500m and fifth in the 5000m.
This time around the DSW Para Academy man, who is trained by James Thie, will be competing in the T20 800m and 1500m.
Sprinter Jones represented Wales at this year’s Commonwealth Games where he finished 7th in the T38 100m final.
The Rhondda man also competed at the 2012 Paralympics in London and the 2013 IPC World Championships.
Birchfield Harrier Sugar, who is a former Welsh international hockey player, competed at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championship, finishing fifth in the T44 100m and fourth in the 200m. She won two bronze medals at the European Championships in Swansea the following year.
Shot-putter Sabrina Fortune, from Deeside, competed in the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, finishing fourth and sixth respectively. Sandwiched in between was a bronze medal at the Paralympics in Rio.
One for the future is 22-year-old Harri Jenkins, of Swansea, who was a member of the British national wheelchair basketball team that won gold at the 2014 U22 European Championships in Zaragoza, Spain.
The DSW Para Academy athlete will be racing in the T33 100m.
Paula Dunn, head coach at British Athletics, said: “I am delighted to announce the 52 athletes selected to compete for Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin in August.
“We have a great tradition of winning medals at a continental level and I am looking forward to watching how our experienced athletes and those making their debuts perform.
“After a three-year period involving two World Championships, a Europeans and a Paralympic Games, it was always the intention for a handful of athletes to rest and recuperate in 2018.
“We have a great mixture of athletes going to Berlin who have reached the very top of the sport and those beginning their journey and I’ve no doubt they will learn a lot from each other in Berlin.”
Welsh Athletes picked for the British World Para Athletics European Championships 2018 team to compete in Berlin from August 20 to 26:
- Hollie Arnold (David Turner; Blackheath & Bromley) – F46 Javelin
- Olivia Breen (Aston Moore; City of Portsmouth) – T38 100m
- Aled Davies (Ryan Spencer Jones; Cardiff) – F63 Shot Put & Discus
- Sabrina Fortune (Ian Robinson; Deeside) – F20 Shot Put
- Jordan Howe (Christian Malcolm; DSW Para Academy) – T35 100m & 200m
- Harri Jenkins (Anthony Hughes; DSW Para Academy) – T33 100m
- Rhys Jones (Christian Malcolm; DSW Para Academy) – T37 100m & 200m
- Steve Morris (James Thie; Cardiff) – T20 800m &1500m
- Laura Sugar (Joe McDonnell; Birchfield) – T44 100m & 200m.