Britain’s wheelchair rugby team out to prove Tokyo gold no fluke as they fight for ‘Murder Ball’ gold at Paris 2024
pA year today the a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/topic/paris-olympics-2024/Paris 2024/a Paralympics will open to great fanfare and celebration./p
figure id=attachment_23677761 class=wp-caption alignnone style=width: 970pximg decoding=async loading=lazy src=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/stuart-robinson-mbe-bi-lateral-839192637.jpg?strip=allamp;w=960 alt= class=alignnone size-thesun-article-image wp-image-23677761 width=960 height=711 /figcaption class=wp-caption-text/figcaptionfigcreditStartraks/figcredit/figureStuart Robinson is out to show Britain#8217;s Tokyo 2020 gold was no flash in the pan ahead of next summer#8217;s Paralympics in Paris[/caption]
figure id=attachment_23677768 class=wp-caption alignnone style=width: 970pximg decoding=async loading=lazy src=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/britains-players-celebrate-winning-wheelchair-675972769.jpg?strip=allamp;w=960 alt= class=alignnone size-thesun-article-image wp-image-23677768 width=960 height=640 /figcaption class=wp-caption-text/figcaptionfigcreditAP/figcredit/figureBritain won 2020 Olympic gold in Tokyo and are desperate to retain their crown[/caption]
a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/LOTTERY-LOGO.pngimg decoding=async loading=lazy src=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/LOTTERY-LOGO.png?strip=allamp;w=960 alt= class=alignnone size-thesun-article-image wp-image-23183983 width=960 height=416 //a
pPlenty of interest during the 12-day Games will focus on the sport nicknamed Murder Ball, especially as the a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/topic/team-gb/Brits/a crashed and smashed their way to historic gold three years ago in a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/tokyo-olympics-2020/Tokyo/a./p
pThe squad shocked favourites United States 54-49 to win a first title in a Paralympic team sport in 63 years of competition./p
pBut vice-captain Stuart Robinson – one of a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/23184054/team-gb-paris-olympics-seinesational-seven/SunSport’s SEINE-sational Seven/a to watch next summer – does not want that Japanese conquest to be a one-off ahead of a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/22412480/paris-olympics-2024-when-stream-free-tv-channel-schedule/next summer#8217;s Games/a./p
pRobinson said: “Straight after Tokyo, we were aware that all the eyes were going to be on us./p
p“The pressure has been on ever since we left that country. But I like to think that we can thrive on that./p
p“From a personal perspective, I don’t want us to be known as a flash-in-the-pan./p
p“As a reference point, I don’t want it to be like Greece from the European Championships in 2004./p
p“You know, one amazing tournament and that was that for them./p
p/p
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p“I want us to play well and to try to push on. It was quite easy for us to sit back and think we are now Paralympic champions./p
p“It should be a case of: ‘What else can we achieve?’ Let’s continue winning, let’s try win the next world championships, let’s try to win the Europeans./p
p“Ultimately, let’s try and win the next Paralympics Games and make it two from two.”/p
pOnly four of the 12 gold medal-winning stars from Tokyo have retired from international sport so continuity of personnel is important./p
pRobinson, a father of two from Morecambe, had both his legs amputated after he was involved in an explosion while serving in the Royal Air Force in Afghanistan a decade ago./p
pHe sustained 36 separate injuries, including rib, sternum, collarbone and spinal fractures and spent two months in hospital, which included six weeks in an induced coma./p
pThe 41-year-old said: “Winning that medal in 2021 did bring a tear or two to my eye. It’s unbelievable what we have achieved. We had gone out there and smashed it and proved the doubters wrong.”/p
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