Ross ready to realise Paralympic dream

Belfast’s David Ross has long believed he would get to a Paralympic Games – and now he is finally here.

The 29-year-old started playing wheelchair rugby in 2013, just two weeks after being discharged from hospital having sustained a spinal cord injury playing the able-bodied version of the sport.

Quickly joining the GB squad in 2015, he took time away from the game to finish his sports science degree before making his international debut in 2022.

Citing Ireland rugby legend Jonathan Sexton as his idol, Ross has now made it to the pinnacle of wheelchair rugby and begins his Games against the world champions Australia on Thursday.

“It was very early on that I thought I could get to a Games,” Ross said. “I got opportunities to train with the GB squad when I was very young before taking time off to finish my degree.

“I was training with the guys who went out to Rio and I saw some of the people that you train with and you know and they are there, and you think ‘man I am not far off this, I can do this too’.

“But then you just have to put in the work and trust me it is a lot of hard work that you don’t realise until you are trying to do it how committed you have to be to get to this point.

“But I always had this belief in the back of my mind that I could do it, so I am delighted to be finally getting the chance.”

ParalympicsGB won their first-ever medal in wheelchair rugby at Tokyo 2020, claiming gold in one of the moments of the Games.

At Paris 2024, Ross finally gets to realise a dream and, with just the Opening Ceremony to go, he is now allowing himself to enjoy the moment.

He added: “When I found out, you get the nod from the coaches that you are going, that is an emotional moment.

“It is a lot of years of hard work that I have put into this and I feel like it has been a stop start journey for me.

“Finishing my degree and then I came back after that and was hoping to get opportunities again and then with the pandemic, that put a pause on things again.

“And I finally got back into the full-time schedule and got back to the point where I have now got to the pinnacle of getting to compete at a Paralympics.

“But since then, we have just had our usual routine of training camps, and I have been very focussed on what is in front of me rather than thinking about the Games but now I am starting to feel very excited.”

The Ulster Rugby fan won his first international medal with silver at the European Championships in Cardiff last year.

He will hope to emulate his wheelchair rugby inspiration Chris Ryan, who co-captained GB to the gold in Tokyo, while also thinking about how he can pay things forward.

“Chris Ryan was definitely the biggest person who inspired me,” said Ryan - one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support.

“He was the GB captain for the Tokyo Games, and he was a player at my club.

“The amount he did for me in my career coming through and the amount he helped me, I wouldn’t be in this position without him and I certainly looked up to him and am very appreciative of all he did for me.

“Now I know that if I get the chance to do that for someone else I just have to pass that on and give back to the sport and help it grow.”