Bognor Paralympian off to World Boccia Championships in Rio

The 21-year-old – who is from Bognor Regis - competed at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and is a firm fixture on the international boccia circuit.Louis said: “I’m super excited to be selected for the World Champs. It’ll be my second World Championships after competing in Liverpool four years ago. It’s been a really, really busy season this year which has been great after two years of Covid which obviously limited the amount of times we could play so I’m really excited to end the year on a high, playing against some of the best players in the world.“Things are going really well – I’ve made a few changes to my technique and mindset so I’m hoping all that work will come to fruition in Rio. It’s a really good opportunity to see where we are at against the world’s best as we try and qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. It’s a really exciting squad that we’re taking and we look forward to hopefully making an impact at the last competition of the year.”Boccia UK Performance Director Greg Baker said: “The World Championships in Rio give us a great opportunity to see where we are with the rest of the world as we get closer to Paris 2024. It will also be a great opportunity for our athletes to gain important ranking points towards Paris qualification.

“It will certainly be our toughest test since the Tokyo 2020 Games and the team is confident they can take positive performances from International Challenger events and World Cups this year into the Worlds. The athletes have shown their competitiveness across the world stage this year and are excited to take this momentum into Rio. Likewise, it's a chance for all the athletes and staff to take stock, understand where we are as a programme and understand where we need to get to with Paris 2024 fast approaching.”

The Brits will be joined by around 180 other athletes from 32 nations from right around the globe. They will descend on Rio to battle it out for World titles as well as ranking points ahead of the Paris Paralympics in 2024.