| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 11 February 1984 India | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Boccia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | BC2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Bas Van Dycke Wesley Deleu | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Francis Rombouts (born 11 February 1984) is a Belgian Paralympic boccia player of Indian descent. He competes in classification BC2. [1]
Rombouts was born in India with cerebral palsy and was adopted at the age of 18 months by a Belgian family. [1] He started playing Boccia at the age of 12 at Parantee-Psylosclub IE Sport at the insistence of club administrator Jo De Becker who was also a teacher at Rombouts's school, "VIBO De Brem", a special education school in Oud-Turnhout. [2] He is a member of Spinnaker in Ekeren, Belgium, a sporting club associated with Heder, an institution for children, youngsters and adults with a mental or physical disability. [1] [3] His chosen nickname is "Blackjack", a reference to the white ball or "jack" associated with Boccia and the dark colour of his skin. [1]
Rombouts lives in Tielen. [4]
His first international competition was in 1989 in Mar del Plata, Argentina. [5]
Rombouts considers his 2nd place at the European Championships in 2005 to be his best performance ever. [1] [5]
He quit the sport in 2007 but, after a hiatus of 10 years, [5] he returned to the sport and won a bronze medal at the 2023 European Para Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. [6]
His best result at the Boccia World Championships came in 2022 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when he finished just outside the medals losing in the bronze medal match to world number 2, Thailand's Watcharaphon Vongsa. [7]
Rombouts' big dream, to qualify for Summer Paralympics, was thwarted in 2000 and 2004 but became a reality after he returned to the sport in 2017 when he was selected for the 2020 [8] and 2024 Summer Paralympics. [9] [4] In Tokyo, he was eliminated at the group stage after losing his first two games, the second one against world number 1, Thailand's Worawut Saengampa. [10] [11]
Boccia is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – bottia. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes with severe physical disabilities. It was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other severe disabilities affecting motor skills. In 1984, it became a Paralympic sport and as of 2020, 75 boccia national organizations have joined one or more of the international organizations. Boccia is governed by the Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed) and is one of two Paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the Olympic program, although it is a Paralympic variant of bocce (boules).
Nigel Patrick Murray is a British Paralympic athlete. He is twelve time English National Champion and seven time British Champion and multiple Paralympic medal winner in the sport of boccia.
Tom Leahy is a paralympic athlete from Ireland competing mainly in category BC2 Boccia events and F32 throwing events. Leahy competed in eight Paralympic Games. He won three Paralympic gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals.
BC2 is a boccia classification. The class is open to people with several different types of disabilities, including cerebral palsy. BC2 players have events open to them in boccia on the Paralympic Games program.
Pedro Cordero Martín is a Spanish boccia player. He represented Spain at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics, winning a bronze medal at both the 2004 and 2008 games in the BC1-BC2 boccia team event.
Manuel Ángel Martín Pérez is a Spanish boccia player who is also known as Manolo Martín. He has cerebral palsy and is a BC2 type athlete.
Daniel Michel is an Australian boccia player. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He won the bronze medal in the Mixed B3 at the Tokyo Paralympics. He won two gold medals at the 2022 World Championships.
Thailand competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics from 24 August to 5 September 2021. This was the country's tenth appearance at the Paralympic Games.
Belgium competed in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan from 25 August to 6 September.
Israel competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo from 24 August to 5 September 2021. The delegation includes 33 athletes – 18 women and 15 men – competing in 11 sports: athletics, badminton, boccia, goalball, paracanoeing, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, and wheelchair tennis.
Claire Taggart is a UK Paralympic Boccia player and stationer from Larne, Northern Ireland.
Josh Vander Vies is a Canadian lawyer and former Paralympic athlete. He won a bronze medal for doubles boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London before retiring.
Maciel Sousa Santos is a Brazilian boccia player.
José Carlos Chagas de Oliveira is a Brazilian paralympic boccia player. He participated at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the boccia competition, being awarded the bronze medal in the mixed individual BC1 event. He also competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympics in the boccia competition.
Yan Zhiqiang is a Chinese paralympic boccia player. He participated at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the boccia competition, being awarded the silver medal in the individual BC2 event. Zhiqiang also participated in the team BC1–2 event, being awarded the silver medal with his teammates Weibo Yuan, Zhang Qi and Kai Zhong. He participated at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in the boccia competition, being awarded the bronze medal in the individual BC2 event. Zhiqiang also participated at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in the boccia competition, winning no medal.
Alison Levine is a Canadian boccia competitor.
Tammy McLeod is a Canadian boccia player who has competed at four Paralympic Games. She won bronze in team BC1/BC2 boccia at the 2015 Parapan American Games.
Fernando Manuel da Costa Ferreira is a Portuguese boccia player. He has competed for his country and won medals at several Summer Paralympics.
Sam de Visser is a Belgian Paralympic swimmer. He competes in classification S9.
Tatyana Lebrun is a Belgian Paralympic swimmer. She competes in classification S10.
Francis Rombouts at Paralympic.org
