Wednesday January 13, 2010
ParalympicsGB has today (Wednesday January 13, 2010) announced the team that will compete in wheelchair curling at the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada from March 12-21, 2010.
Paralympic silver medallist Michael McCreadie has been named as the skip of the team, which also includes a further two members of the team that finished second four years ago, Tom Killin and Angela (Angie) Malone.
They are joined by Aileen Neilson, who comes from a family of curlers and who has taken leave from her job as a primary school teacher to train for the Games, and Jim Sellar, a veteran of four World Championships for Scotland.
Phil Lane, Chief Executive of ParalympicsGB, said of the team: “We are delighted that we can announce the wheelchair curling team that will represent Britain at the Paralympic Winter Games. We are confident that they will make us proud and we hope that the team will also bring home a medal for the second successive Games.”
Chris Hildrey, British Curling Chairman, said: "I'd like to congratulate these athletes on their selection by ParalympicsGB as we enter the final stages of preparation for medal success in Vancouver. The passion, commitment and professionalism they have displayed over recent months along with the support of their families, has been admirable and with their selection now confirmed, they will be able to focus efforts on achieving the ultimate goal in Vancouver, whilst hopefully enjoying the Paralympic experience."
Michael McCreadie expressed his excitement at leading the team: “It is an honour for me to Skip the British team at the Paralympics in Vancouver. I make up 20% of the playing Team and there are four others who are truly world class performers. We have worked extremely hard to get back into winning ways, with the results from this year’s tour clearly indicating we are on the right track. Preparations have gone really well and we plan in the next nine weeks to hone ourselves into a formidable adversary ready to take on the rest of the world.”
The high performance wheelchair curling programme is delivered by the sportscotland institute of sport on behalf of British Curling and funded through UK Sport.
Mike Whittingham, Director of High Performance, sportscotland said: “We congratulate all our Scottish Wheelchair Curlers on their selection to Team GB. The squad have benefitted from a range of high performance support services through the institute and we look forward to helping them in their final stages of preparation, to ensure they perform to their very best at the Games."
For news updates visit the ParalympicsGB website at www.paralympics.org.uk
N.B ParalympicsGB is the trading name of the British Paralympic Association
ParalympicsGB are the organisation responsible for selecting, entering, managing and funding the British team at the summer and winter Paralympic Games.
ParalympicsGB will compete in wheelchair curling from March 13 to March 20. In their opening match on March 13, Britain face host nation Canada.
The high performance wheelchair curling programme is delivered by the sportscotland institute of sport on behalf of British Curling and funded through UK Sport.
In 2006 the wheelchair curling team of Frank Duffy (skip), Ken Dickson, Tom Killin, Angie Malone and Michael McCreadie won silver. Wheelchair curling made its Paralympic debut in Turin.
The sport is governed by the rules of the World Curling Federation (WCF) with one modification for wheelchair curlers – no sweeping is permitted. Competition at Paralympic level in wheelchair curling is for individuals with significant impairments in lower leg/gait function i.e. spinal injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, double leg amputation etc, who usually required a wheelchair for daily mobility use.
The British team, which competes as Scotland at the World Championships were world champions in 2004 and 2005, and secured world bronze medals in 2002 and 2007.They finished fifth at the 2009 World Championships.
Athlete Biographies
Angela (Angie) Malone
Age and place of birth: 44, Glasgow
Current home town: Tormitchell By Girvan, South Ayrshire
Occupation:Athlete
Nature of Disability: Paraplegic (road traffic accident)
Angie has been involved in curling for six years. She was a member of the GB team that won silver in 2006 and was a double world champion (2004, 2005). She was also a world bronze medallist in 2007.
Over the last year she has faced a battle against cancer, and she has successfully balanced training with her treatment.
Michael McCreadie
Age and place of birth: 53, Glasgow
Current home town: Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire
Occupation:Athlete
Nature of Disability:Paraplegic (polio)
A member of the team that won silver at the Turin Paralympic Winter Games, Michael is also a double world champion (2004, 2005). He represented Scotland at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 World Championships.
Michael has competed at six Paralympic Games so far, four as a competitor and two as a coach. His first Paralympic Games was in 1972.
He has been curling since 2001. His hobbies include reading, gardening and supporting Celtic Football Club.
Tom Killin
Age and place of birth: 59, Edinburgh
Current home town: Edinburgh
Occupation:Athlete
Nature of Disability: Paraplegic (road traffic accident)
Tom took up curling in 2004. Previously he competed in the summer Paralympic sports of fencing and table tennis, winning a Paralympic medal in fencing in 1980. Tom’s wife was a Paralympic fencer for GB who won gold in 1980. He was a member of the team which won silver in Turin in 2006.
Tom was a member of the 2005 World Champion team, and competed in the 2008 and 2009 teams at the World Championships.
Tom’s other passion, outside curling, is Hibernian Football Club.
Aileen Neilson
Age and place of birth: 38, East Kilbride
Current home town: Strathaven, Lanarkshire
Occupation: Athlete/Primary School Teacher
Nature of Disability: Paraplegic (spinal cord tumour)
Aileen has been involved in curling for five years, and her family have a background in the sport: both her uncle and her grandfather competed at international level. A regular in the side, Aileen has competed in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 World Championships.
Aileen’s other hobbies include carriage driving. She has taken leave from her job as a primary school teacher in order to train for the Parlaympics.
James (Jim) Sellar
Age and place of birth: 52, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire
Current home town: Bellshill
Occupation: Athlete
Nature of Disability: Tetraplegic (accident)
Jim has been curling since 2001. He is a veteran of four world championships, including the gold medal-winning team in 2004 and the bronze medal-winning team in 2007. He has never competed at Paralympic level previously.
If he wins in Vancouver he has said he will retire from competitive sport. Jim is a Rangers Football Club supporter.