Cookies help our website to remember you and your preferences. For more information or to update your cookie settings, please go to our privacy policy.

Accept Decline
Skip to content.

The national charity and leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity

Menu. Open and close this menu with the ENTER key.

Griffin one step closer to Paralympic 'dream'

Four years ago, he was a London 2012 torchbearer. Now SL4 Para-Badminton star Bobby Griffin is one step closer to his 'dream' of competing at a Paralympic Games after being named in the first ever GB Para-Badminton squad.

Bobby Griffin playing badminton

Griffin, a three-time World Championship medallist, has been as high as fifth in the world rankings and joins eight other Para-Badminton stars in a squad of nine players considered ‘most likely’ to be in contention for ParalympicGB selection for Tokyo.

Speaking to Badminton England, Griffin said:

“Being selected for the squad is a massive step in the right direction. It is proof that all my hard work, time, energy and resources I've put in, and those who continue to support me are putting in, is paying off to help me achieve a Paralympic  ambition. It's a real honour to be able to be called a GB athlete.  Since I was a young child, to compete for Great Britain has been the highest honour and achievement I could ever dream of so if I make it to Tokyo that would really be a dream come true.”

Eight years ago Griffin sustained a broken back, broken foot and a double fracture of his left leg when his motorbike was hit by a car in his home town of Bath. After nine operations he was unable to place any weight on leg and took the decision to have it amputated below the knee. Griffin iterates it was ‘the biggest decision of my life and probably the best’.

Now fitted with a sports prosthetic limb he won two world championship bronze medals then went one better in 2015, winning silver on home soil at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, dubbing the World Championships ‘the proudest week of my badminton life’.

Whilst he knows his seat on the plane to Tokyo is far from guaranteed at this stage, Griffin can't help but talk up medal chances from within the squad.

“Badminton has so much going for it. Chris (Langridge) and Marcus (Ellis) showed us in Rio what it is to be success in Olympic level and I believe Great Britain can achieve medals in the Paralympics in Tokyo.
"We have a great structure for the development of our players; from coaches to training camps to volunteers, which gives us a really great foundation so I just can’t wait to be part of that journey”.

See how you can get involved and play badminton here.