Elliot on the mat

Elliot Stewart

Athlete Information

  • Region

    Birmingham

  • Date of Birth

    22/02/1988

  • Classification

    -90kg

Athlete main content

At the age of 28, Elliot was married with three kids and studying for a degree, when he noticed his sight was starting to deteriorate. Initially he put it down to ‘getting older’ but after three months the amount of vision he had lost was quite considerable.

Diagnosed with keratoconus – a condition that causes the cornea to weaken, Elliot’s family rallied together to fund an operation to save what sight he had remaining.

Following the diagnosis Elliot lost his job teaching judo in local schools as he could no longer drive.

However, following the operation Elliot’s dad, 1988 Seoul Olympic judo bronze medallist, Dennis, suggested he try competing as a visually impaired judoka with the British Judo VI team.

World and European championship bronze medals followed in both 2018 and 2019, Stewart is currently ranked 5th in the world.

Making his Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020, Elliot won a hard fought silver medal in the men’s -90kg weight class.

2020 Paralympic Games, Tokyo, Japan

  • Silver

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