Paralympics 2024: Eight British athletes to watch in Paris

Powell is following a family tradition when he steps onto the judo mat in Paris.

The 33-year-old from Liverpool, who was born with a visual impairment, was just a child when his father Terry, also visually impaired, competed at the 1988 Seoul and 1996 Atlanta Games, winning bronze in both.

He made his Paralympic debut in London in 2012, but he and his brother Marc failed to win any medals.

In 2018, he rose to fame when he appeared on ITV’s Ninja Warrior UK, becoming the first visually impaired person to take part. He said taking part was scarier than competing in London.

After finishing seventh in Tokyo, he took up rowing, where he also made a good impression, but the lure of judo proved too strong and he decided to concentrate his efforts on that sport again.

The decision was vindicated by a silver medal in his J1 -90kg event at the 2022 World Championships in Baku, followed by silver at the 2023 European Championships in Rotterdam and he heads to Paris ranked third in the world.

Powell is also passionate about sport and founded the GNR8 Academy in Leicester, a community impact project that helps support local people, remove barriers to exercise and find ways to integrate everyone into the community. He was recognised earlier this year with the Social Impact Award at the PLx Awards organised by UK Sport.

Men -90kg D1: Saturday September 7th