成人论坛

Name: Martin Crutchley

Age:听 25

From:听 South Staffordshire

Event:听 F38 Shotput

Since his childhood Martin has always had a fondness for athletics and originally was involved in sprints before he realised he had a talent for throwing events.听

He prefers the individual events because if he makes a mistake then he is the only one that feels the consequences.听 However Martin doesn't make many mistakes as he proved when getting silver in the German National Championships and he will be hoping to get amongst the medals in Beijing.

Martin is a big fan of Liverpool Football Club and his heroes include Ronnie Barker, Jasper Carrot, Peter Kay, Steven Gerrard and Sylvester Stallone and his pet hates include reality television and smokers.

PARALYMPICS 2008 RESULT:

Martin finished in a more-than-creditable fifth place behind gold medallist, Dong Xia of China.

Name: Lee Greatbatch

Age:听 25

From:听 Weston Coyney

Event:听 Blind 5 a-side Football

Lee Greatbatch at 25 is a veteran of the Great Britain 5 a-side team with 50 caps for his country and is at the heart of the side that will lead us into battle in Beijing and he isn't going there with the intention of returning empty handed he wants to follow in the footsteps of so many of are Olympians this summer and bring back gold.

As well as being a stalwart of the national team he is also a talented player; determined, two footed and not afraid to venture forward in search of goals.听

Teams use the recognised shout of 'voy' which is Spanish for 'I'm here' to avoid collisions and possible injuries and the Spanish are the world leaders in this extrememly popular sport as they beat Britain in the European Championships final last year.听

Great Britain are seeded fourth in the world and are among the medal favourites for this year's Paralympics.

Lee is currently based at Worcester University where he is studying Sports and Exercise Science.听

He was also nominated as Student Champion of the Year and would love to add an Olympic Gold Medal to his growing list of accolades.

PARALYMPICS 2008 RESULT:

Lee may have returned without a medal from Beijing but it wasn't for the want of trying! And he scored a great goal against the eventual bronze medallists, Argentina.

The team finished the competition in 5th place after winning a dramatic penalty-shootout against South Korea.

Name:听 Simon Munn

Age:听 40

From:听 Staffordshire

Event:听 Wheelchair Basketball

Simon Munn will be competing in his fifth Paralympics when he lines up alongside the rest of Team GB at the Beijing University of Science and Technology Gymnasium. Simon is certainly the veteran of the side with Paralympic silver and bronze medals in his four appearances at the Games.

Simon made his Paralympic debut in the Barcelona '92 event where Team GB finished fifth and has often been the top scorer in the team leading them to many victories.听

He top scored in the final of this year's World Cup event where Great Britain were narrowly edged out by two points in a close fought encounter with Americans and he will be hoping to shoot the team to victory in Beijing.

This is what Munn thinks about the team's chances:

"In Beijing I think if we play to our potential and we really play well we can get to the final four and then, lets see what happens."

PARALYMPICS 2008 RESULT:

Britain's wheelchair basketball team equalled their achievement from four years ago with a bronze. They went out in the semi-finals to the eventual winners Australia.

In the battle for third place, Simon scored a whopping 20 points and was instrumental in helping Britain defeat the United States 85-77.

Name:听 Lee Pearson

Age:听 34

From:听 Cheddleton

Event:听 Para Dressage

Lee has a condition called arthrogryposis. This is when a foetus's muscles don't grow correctly while in the womb and cause joints to be limited in movement at birth, he has had to have 15 operations and can't move his ankles or knees.听

The reason Lee started riding horses was because he couldn't ride a BMX due to his disability and all of his friends had them.听

"Mine was a hairy version, Sally the donkey, who wouldn't turn right and bucked everybody else off but me," says Lee.

Since starting dressage competitions in 1998, Lee has won 18 gold medals taking three each at the Sydney and Athens Paralympic Games and is the only disabled rider to have won a National Dressage Championships while competing against able bodied riders.听

He was voted 成人论坛 Midlands Disabled Sports Person of the Year in 2003 and 2004 as well as Midlands Sports Personality of the Year in 2004.听

Lee was awarded an MBE in 2001 and an OBE in 2005 for his success and services to sport for the disabled he also has an honorary doctorate from Staffordshire University.

In 2007 he won three more golds to add to his impressive haul in the World Championships.

Lee will be among the gold medal favourites in the Para dressage and will be hoping to pass the 20 gold medal mark in Beijing.

PARALYMPICS 2008 RESULT:

Staffordshire Moorlands horseman Lee Pearson won another 3 golds at Beijing 2008! Pearson took gold in the individual and team events and the individual freestyle event.

Pearson has now won three golds at three consecutive games - that makes an unprecedented 9 straight Paralympic gold medals!

But he's not done yet. He says he has his sights on London 2012 and that he's planning to carry on competing for many years to come.