jun.11.2008
By Gareth A Davies
www.telegraph.co.uk
There is an often under-played pioneering spirit about Paralympians: witness young South African amputee athletes Oscar Pistorius and Natalie Du Toit stretching their ambitions from the Paralympic to the Olympic Games this year. Now Britain has a new groundbreaker.
Push forward Josie Pearson, 22, from Hereford, with the face of an angel but the tackling skills of a Dallaglio, who will become the first woman ever to compete at wheelchair rugby at the Paralympic Games after being named yesterday in the 12-strong GB squad for Beijing.
Pearson has faced tougher times than in sporting competition. Five years ago, aged 17, in a tragic twist of fate, Pearson broke her neck and lost her boyfriend Daniel Evans, who died aged 19, in a head-on vehicle collision.
Dark days indeed, but her fighting spirit endures.
Pearson, who has played for Cardiff Pirates since November 2005, is also a formidable wheelchair athlete who competes at 100m, 200m and 400m sprint.
She said: "I’m delighted. The blokes don't bat an eyelid that you're a girl. They take no prisoners when they're trying to get the ball.
"I've been playing for two and a half years; I picked up the basics pretty quickly. I'm still pretty new to the game and feel confused and nervous half the time but I love it.
"It's a real adrenaline rush. It's a brilliant sport: I went to one training session and fell in love with it.
"The guys were really welcoming and I never felt singled out just because I am a girl. In fact we need more girls to play as there's only a handful of us - because of the classification system the sport is unisex which is great.
"It's a full-on sport and it takes a while to develop court awareness and get enough experience to be fully involved in games.
"The sport is growing phenomenally fast but we still need more girls and more publicity."
GB takes an experienced squad to the Games, with eight members from the 12-strong squad having represented Great Britain in Athens in 2004 where they narrowly missed a medal after finishing fourth.
Andy Barrow, named captain, said: "It's a tremendous honour to be selected to represent my country. It's going to be my second Paralympics but this time I will be captain, which is a fantastic.
"We came fourth in Athens and fourth again at the last world championships in 2006 so to win a medal would be fantastic. Personally I would like to see us reach the final."
The wheelchair rugby events at the Games, with the world’s eight top ranked countries, will take place at the University of Science and Technology gym, Beijing, from 12-16 September.