After winning a bronze medal as the youngest member of the GB table tennis squad at London 2012, Loughborough College student Ross Wilson returns to the Paralympic stage in Rio with fellow medallist and College student Aaron McKibbin.
Ross and Aaron both won Paralympic team bronze four years ago with Will Bayley and the pair are now part of a 12-strong GB squad for Brazil.
Ross was only 17 when he finished fourth in the singles in London, having led the Chinese world number one 2-0 in his semi-final before making it to the podium with his teammates.
“London was everything I could have wished for. I had no nerves and I was just enjoying representing my country. To get a bronze was amazing,” said Ross.
“The experience of 2012 has shown me what kind of level I need to be at if I want to do well in Rio and how to prepare for a major championship and that is a big advantage going in to the next Games. Rio has always been the main aim.”
As a teenager Ross won two national doubles titles and was ranked top ten in the country in able-bodied table tennis - but as he got older it became clear that a physical issue was affecting his development and in 2011 he was diagnosed with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, which affects the growing ends of the bones.
“The diagnosis was a turning point for me. I was on the verge of deciding whether or not to carry on playing. I wasn’t getting selected for the able bodied team because they knew I had something wrong with me but I wasn’t getting selected for Para table tennis as they couldn’t find what was wrong with me. I didn’t think I was getting anywhere. Then when I was diagnosed I went to Hungary and was classified and started training with the GB Para squad.”
Ross’s first international season culminated in a silver medal in the European Championships in 2011.
Following his team bronze in London in 2012, Ross was ranked two in the world - but he was then side-lined with a shoulder injury.
Ross was able to continue training and maintain his fitness by running, cycling and gym work. This helped him improve his speed around the table and in 2014 he returned to competition - taking gold in the men’s class 8 singles at the Cote d’Azur International.
Ross began 2015 with silver medals in Hungary and Italy but was then side-lined once again with injuries to his knee and elbow. Strained muscles in his back then hampered his preparations for the European Championships. Nevertheless, Ross beat top ten players to reach the quarter finals of the singles and took bronze in the team event with Aaron.
After playing tennis from the age of four to 14, Loughborough College student Aaron took up table tennis at school – competing in the UK Schools championship before making his international debut in 2009.
Following his bronze medal win in London with Ross and Will Bayley, Aaron went on to win his group in the European Championships in 2013 and team silver medals in Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia in 2014. He achieved one of the best wins of his career in the Solvenia Open when he beat class 10 world number eight Pavel Lukyanov of Russia.
In 2015 Aaron reunited with Ross in the team event at the European Championships in Denmark to take the bronze. The following month he went to the China Open in Beijing knowing his qualification for Rio was in the balance – but responded to the pressure by beating the Chinese world number two Ye Chao Qun to take gold in the singles and secure his Paralympic qualification.
Pictured: Loughborough College student and ParalympicsGB player Ross Wilson