Londoners Aaron McKibbin and Ashley Facey-Thompson are determined to “do our home city proud” in the Tokyo Paralympics — saying sport has a unique ability to bring the capital together.
The table tennis players are among more than 220 athletes who make up Great Britain’s team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Facey-Thompson, who is from Bethnal Green, is a wildcard entry in the men’s class nine singles.
The 26-year-old has Erb’s palsy, which effects the nerves in the right side of his body mainly in his arm and shoulder. “It is incredible what sport can do in London and how it can bring people together,” he said.
“There are a lot of ethnic minorities in London who want to play different sports and that is what London is great at — encouraging everyone to get in to sport.”
Facey-Thompson, who competed at the Rio 2016 Games, said losing his qualifying match for Tokyo was “heartbreaking”, adding that his wildcard status made him feel like he had something to prove.
He said: “It was a bit of a heartbreaker [losing my qualifying matches], I thought that was the only chance I had. I didn’t see myself getting in for a wildcard. I was more shocked than happy.”
Teammate McKibbin, 29, a double bronze medal winner who came third at both the London 2012 and the Rio 2016 Games, said: “Our coaching team has put us in the best position to go out there and do really well. We have the ability to win a lot of medals and could potentially do so across the team. It is an exciting games for us.” He said he was aiming for gold.
“The aim is to improve on it [his bronze in Rio], that is the aim for everyone there,” he said. “Just before Covid I had the best year in terms of my singles ranking. I am now number five or six in the world. So I want to compete for a singles medal. Everyone goes for gold.”
McKibbin, who was born with a club foot and underwent corrective surgery when he was a few weeks old, said he had specific songs that he plays to inspire success in his matches.
He said: “I haven’t sorted out my playlist yet, but I have been playing a lot of [London rapper] Dave’s album.”
