Everything you need to know about flagbearers John Stubbs and Ellie Simmonds

Everything you need to know about flagbearers John Stubbs and Ellie Simmonds

John Stubbs and Ellie Simmonds have been named as the duo to carry the GB flag at the Paralympics opening ceremony. 

With the games set to get underway on Tuesday August 24, it will be two ParalympicsGB greats charged with leading the team. 

Ellie Simmonds will compete in her fourth Paralympics and the age of only 26, having first represented ParalympicsGB in Beijing 13-years ago. 

Meanwhile, Tokyo marks John Stubbs’ third games having won gold in 2008. 

Here’s everything you need to know about the pair…

Who is John Stubbs? 

John Stubbs is a Paralympic archer who won gold in Beijing in 2008. 

On his second Paralympic appearance in 2016, he brought home more metal wear in the form of a silver medal. 

Now the 56-year-old is set to go again in Tokyo, having been awarded an MBE for his contribution to sport.

In 1989, John was knocked off his motorbike before being hit by another car on his way home from work. 

As a result of the accident, he had to have his right leg amputated. 

This was followed by a long and difficult road to recovery, and after trying out a few different sports, John found his talent for archery.

On the 24th anniversary of his accident, John won two gold medals and a silver at the 2013 World Para-archery Championships in Thailand, which changed his outlook on what had happened. 

Speaking on his win, he said “To compete and win a gold medal on what usually was a sad day… I used to remember that day for all the wrong reasons but now it will be remembered for a good reason.”

How many medals has Ellie Simmonds won? 

Ellie Simmonds has been somewhat of a household name since first competing in the Paralympics aged just 13 in Beijing, coming out triumphant in two events.

It was an accolade that won her Young Sports Personality of the Year 2008, before being awarded an MBE in 2009 and an OBE in 2013.

She has since cemented her status as ParalympicsGB resident golden girl, having won five gold medals across the course of three games, not to mention the additional silver and two bronzes she picked up in London and Rio. 

Aside form the Paralympics, Ellie has been crowned world champion a mammoth 10 times.

Her role in carrying the flag makes her the first British woman to do so at a Paralympics since 2000. 

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