Lincolnshire Paralympic stars prepare for Rio

Five athletes from Lincolnshire will be competing in the Rio 2016 Paralympic games, which start next week.

The Paralympic games run from September 7 until September 18 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

There are 23 Paralympic sports and 528 events over the 11 day competition.

Three athletes competing in the Paralympics this September were part of the Lincolnshire Elite Athlete Programme (LEAP), which offers support to athletes so they can work towards being part of the Olympic and Paralympic games.

Javelin competitor Hollie Arnold. Photo: Twitter

Hollie Arnold, 21, born in Grimsby will be competing in the Paralympics for the third time this year.

She will be competing in the javelin competition and was part of LEAP in 2009.

Roberta ‘Bert’ Sheffield training for the Paralympics 2016. Photo: Bert Sheffield Para Equestrian Rider

Another former LEAP athlete, Roberta ‘Bert’ Sheffield, will be competing in Rio this is year.

Roberta is from Bourne, Lincolnshire but is competing for the Canadian team as she changed her sporting nationality in 2014.

She will compete in the Equestrian para-dressage event.

Kieran Tscherniawsky. Photo: Lincolnshire Sport

Kieran Tscherniawsky from Sleaford, also a former LEAP athlete, and Sam Ruddock, who lives in Grantham, will both be competing in the shot put competition in Rio for Paralympics GB.

Photo: Sam Ruddock

Competing in the GB judo team is Jack Hodgson from Gainsborough. He is one of four athletes selected for the team and won bronze at the 2015 European Championships.

Jack Hodgson, Judo Paralympian. Photo: Jack Hodgson

Janet Inman, CEO of Lincolnshire Sport, said: “We are so proud of all the athletes representing Great Britain at the Paralympics, but none more so than the competitors from Lincolnshire.

“These athletes are an inspiration and that’s shown by the sudden surge in interest around sport and activity every four years.

“We’ll be cheering on our Lincolnshire athletes throughout the Paralympics, and we’re sure Team GB will bring home plenty of medals.”

The Paralympics will be available to watch on Channel 4 with 19 hours of action a day.

Catch up with how Lincolnshire’s Olympic stars performed in Rio just last month:

• Olympic champions: Lincolnshire stars play leading role as Team GB wins hockey gold
• “A joke”: Lincoln swimmer Jack Burnell disqualified in Olympic swimming marathon event
• Lincolnshire coach leads Adam Peaty to Olympic swimming glory