Fox beats challenges to earn Paralympic place

Ben Fox has won European, world and Paralympic medals

Wheelchair basketball player Ben Fox has a special reason for giving it everything as he chases Paralympic gold in Paris.

The 28-year-old has been selected for his second Games - three years after being part of the Great Britain squad that won bronze in Tokyo - but as well as impressing selectors, he had to face an additional challenge before his spot could be confirmed.

Fox was born with a group of birth defects known as Vater Syndrome and is missing his right leg; he has issues with his back and trachea, plus a congenital heart condition, having surgery in 2018 to replace his pulmonary valve.

It means he must have annual medical tests to assess if he can continue playing at the top level.

"It is a concern, but I try to remain positive and not think about it too much," he tells BBC Sport.

"I've got a brilliant support network and the doctors do an incredible job making sure I am safe and not in danger.

"I am good and healthy and ready to go and grateful for everything that modern medicine has done for me.

"I know a time will come when the test result doesn't give me the answer I want, but I will deal with that day when it comes."

Fox, who hails from Swindon but is now based with top Spanish side Amiab Albacete, is one of seven returnees from the last Games to be selected for this summer's event, which runs from 29 August to 8 September.

From a sporty family, he started off playing amputee football but as a teenager was spotted in a service station car park on his way to watch Arsenal play Manchester United by Great Britain's then-assistant coach Sinclair Thomas, a former player, and asked if he had ever thought of trying wheelchair basketball.

"I had a day chair at that point but I was mainly using crutches to get around so I was a bit apprehensive about playing sport in a wheelchair, but I thought I would give it a go and I fell in love with it from the first session," he explains.

"I always wanted to win but I remember when I started pushing the chair, I would get the worst blisters on my hands and have sore shoulders and arms, but that is something you get used to over the years and learn to put up with.

"Now 16 years later, I never would have thought it would be my full-time job and I would be representing my country but I wouldn't change it for the world."

GB won bronze in Tokyo despite head coach Haj Bhania having to remain at home because of Covid

He will join fellow Albacete players Phil Pratt, Harry Brown, Simon Brown and Lee Manning in a 12-strong squad, which features two Paralympic debutants in Peter Cusack and Lee Fryer, while four-time bronze medallist Terry Bywater will be making his seventh Games appearance and Abdi Jama his fifth.

The women's squad, also named on Wednesday, includes European silver medallists Helen Freeman, who is appearing in her fifth Games, Sophie Carrigill and Charlie Moore, who also spent last season with Albacete.

Also named is Laurie Williams - who is engaged to team-mate Robyn Love and gave birth to their daughter Alba in April 2023 - while Jodie Waite, Maddie Martin and Jade Atkin will make their Paralympic debuts.

The men go into the tournament as European champions and one of the favourites but the United States, who are the two-time defending Paralympic champions and current world champions, having beaten GB in the final, will be among the dangers.

"We have proven over the past six years that we are right up there. Now it is about doing it on the biggest stage," insists Fox.

"We want this. It isn't going to be easy but I really believe we can put it together and win the first gold for GB in the sport. I feel like there is something special we can do with this team.

"Every training session I give my all and every game I try to play like a final.

"Hopefully Paris won't be my last Games, but if it is, I want to make sure I go out in style and bring that gold back."

Men’s squad: Abdi Jama, Jim Palmer, Simon Brown, Kyle Marsh, Gregg Warburton, Harry Brown, Phil Pratt, Peter Cusack, Ben Fox, Terry Bywater, Lee Fryer, Lee Manning.

Women’s squad: Sophie Carrigill, Charlotte Moore, Jodie Waite, Laurie Williams, Joy Haizelden, Maddie Martin, Robyn Love, Helen Freeman, Amy Conroy, Katie Morrow, Lucy Robinson, Jade Atkin