about a year ago

The athletes selected in Judo include the Ingram and Powell brothers. Sam Ingram won Paralympic bronze in Beijing which spurred on his brother Joe to return to the sport. Meanwhile Dan and Marc Powell are both selected for their first Games, but are no strangers to the Paralympics as their father Terry Powell competed in both Seoul and Atlanta. The squad is completed by Ben Quilter, current European and World Champion in the -60kg category.

The Boccia brothers of Peter and Stephen McGuire will compete in the BC4 event and are part of a nine strong squad that includes  reigning Paralympic gold medallists in the BC1/BC2 Team event Nigel Murray, David Smith, Dan Bentley and Zoe Robinson.

In Powerlifting, the six strong squad includes previous world record holder Anthony Peddle, who is selected for his seventh Paralympic Games.

"Today’s selection of athletes means that we have now selected almost a third of ParalympicsGB for London, so it really feels like the team is starting to come together.”Craig Hunter

Today’s announcement brings the current total of ParalympicsGB athletes for London 2012 to 80 – nearly a third of the anticipated eventual team size.

ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission Craig Hunter said “I am delighted to welcome these athletes to ParalympicsGB. It is the culmination of hard work and dedication on their part. From ParalympicsGB’s perspective the selection of many of these athletes is also testament to the success of BPA programmes such as our annual simulation preparation camp, our Paralympic Potential days and our Talent Transition Programme over the last four years.

“I am particularly excited because today’s selection of athletes means that we have now selected almost a third of ParalympicsGB for London, so it really feels like the team is starting to come together.”

Announced today were nine boccia players, five judoka and six powerlifters.

Dave Sanders, Team Leader for Judo congratulated his team of selected players today, saying:

“All players have worked tremendously hard to gain selection to London 2012 and have amassed a fantastic haul of medals on the World and European stage during the qualification period. The results at these major events are real indicator of the potential of the team to succeed in London.  I am really proud to be involved with such a professional team and thankful to have an excellent Paralympic Performance Coach, Jean-Paul Bell, working so closely with the team on a daily basis, underpinned by a highly effective support team – all of whom play a large part in the overall success of the team.”

Since 2008, GB Boccia have focussed on consolidating strong performances in Beijing in the BC1 and BC2 categories while also extending the squad to include top BC3 and BC4 athletes. BC4 is for athletes that have impairments other than cerebral palsy and BC3 is for athletes who use a ramp to play the sport.

Part of this recruitment has been done through the joint UK Sport and British Paralympic Association talent search, Paralympic Potential, which was launched in 2009 and identified Jessica Hunter and Jacob Thomas, who both then went through the GB Boccia Fast Track programme.

"GB Boccia is very confident that the selected athletes will do ParalympicsGB proud in London."Matt Hammond

Matt Hammond, Team Leader for GB Boccia, said: “GB Boccia is very confident that the selected athletes will do ParalympicsGB proud in London. With GB ranked in the World top three in five of the seven events and with rapidly developing athletes in the BC3 class we should be competitive across the board. We have a great mix of experienced athletes including two time gold medallist Nigel Murray and exciting new athletes who are having a big impact on the World stage.”

The Powerlifting team has also been consolidating their squad since Beijing, and powerlifters have attended all three of the BPA preparation camps at the University of Bath as part of developing their athletes for London 2012.

"With the home crowd behind us I am convinced we can build on our recent performances to deliver good results in London.”Fiona Lothian

Fiona Lothian, Team Leader for British Weightlifting, said: “We are delighted that all four athletes who represented Great Britain in Beijing have qualified for London 2012 in addition to one or two new athletes. Our experience of the BPA preparation camps has convinced us that this will be the best place to put the finishing touches to our Games preparation. With the home crowd behind us I am convinced we can build on our recent performances to deliver good results in London.”

UPS will be supporting ParalympicsGB by coordinating the delivery of London 2012 team kits to Paralympic athletes across the UK. In this extensive logistical operation UPS will be delivering 51,000 boxes of kit to 700 Paralympic athletes and support staff at training locations up and down the country. Then, ahead of the team’s arrival to the Paralympic Village, UPS will collect all the kit and deliver it to each athlete’s room ensuring a comfortable and easy move into the village for the home team.

As the Official Logistics and Express Delivery Supporter of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, UPS is proud to be playing such a vital role in supporting ParalympicsGB athletes on their journey to London 2012.

Click here to view the athletes' profiles.

The full list of athletes is:

Judo

Sam Ingram
Joe Ingram
Dan Powell
Marc Powell
Ben Quilter

Boccia

Dan Bentley
Jessica Hunter
Scott McCowan
Peter McGuire
Stephen McGuire
Nigel Murray
Zoe Robinson
David Smith
Jacob Thomas

Powerlifting

Natalie Blake
Paul Efayena
Jason Irving
Ali Jawad
Zoe Newson
Anthony Peddle

To view the athletes biographies, please click here.