Josh O’Brien

Josh O’Brien marked his Paralympic Games debut with a gold medal at Paris 2024 as part of the victorious PR3 mixed coxed four crew.

Josh learnt to row during his second year of studying at the University of Birmingham. He wanted to try a new sport after a football injury and rowing provided a great alternative, which quickly became an obsession.

Growing up he was a keen footballer and played as a goalkeeper for his local team. During a cup game when he was 18, he took a knee to his face. He broke his eye-socket, cheekbone and nose which resulted in roughly 20 hours of facial reconstruction surgery. He now has a 3D printed eye socket and multiple titanium plates in the right-hand side of his face.

He is very self-motivated and wants to be the best that he can possibly be. He hopes that his selection for ParalympicsGB in Paris is validation that he is good at rowing and would mean a lot to his family. When he hangs up his oars he wants to travel and put his economics degree to use in one way or another.

Josh is not the kind of person who sits still. At 17 he bungee jumped while on holiday in New Zealand and his antics at school saw him featured on SPORTbible as he was filmed jumping over 9 chairs.