| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |  Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 January 1977 Ogmore Valley, Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sailing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class(es) | Sonar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Stephen Thomas (born 5 January 1977) is a British Paralympic sailor. Thomas has represented Great Britain at three Summer Paralympics and with his colleagues John Robertson and Hannah Stodel has won multiple medals in the Mixed Sonar class at the Disabled Sailing World Championships, including gold in 2005 and 2006.
Thomas was born in 1977, growing up in the Ogmore Valley in south Wales, but moved to Bridgend when he was ten. [1] Thomas was a keen athlete as a youth and represented the Under 18 Wales rugby union team. [1] At the age of 18 Thomas contracted meningococcal septicaemia. He was rushed to hospital and he entered a six-week coma. Complications resulting from his illness resulted in him having both his legs amputated below the knees to save his life. [2] Thomas matriculated to UWIC in Cardiff where he studied Sport & Exercise Science. [3]
Thomas was introduced to the disability sport of ice sledge hockey before sailing. He was at a National Eisteddfod when he was approached by a stranger who asked him to join an ice sledge hockey team. [1] Thomas took to the physicality of the sport and was part of the Great Britain squad who attempted to qualify for the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Utah. The team failed to reach the Utah games but Thomas' desire to attend a Winter Paralympics, saw him part of the team who four years later qualified for the 2006 Games in Turin. [1] The British squad was placed into Group A, along with Italy and the two eventual finalists Canada and Norway. The British squad lost heavily to both Canada (9–0) and Norway (6–0), but beat the Italian team 2–1 to finish third meaning they could not contest for a medal. In the classification rounds, to find overall placement, Britain lost to Sweden, but then beat Italy 2–1 again to finish seventh out of eight teams. [4] Thomas was not the only member of the British ice sledge hockey team of 2006 to also compete in Summer Paralympics. Among the team were world record holding javelin thrower Nathan Stephens and gold medal sprinter Richard Whitehead. [4]
Between the 2002 and 2006 Winter Paralympics, a change encounter with the Performance Director for Welsh Disability Sport saw Thomas offered a role in the British sailing team. [1] Thomas had no experience of sailing, but the team were looking for a person with his disability and physique, and he accepted their invitation. [1] Thomas faced a steep learning curve but persisted as middleman in a Mixed Sonar team alongside fellow British sailors John Robertson and Hannah Stodel. In 2003 he travelled with his team-mates to Athens to take part in his first IFDS World Disabled Sailing Championship, where they secured the bronze medal. [3] The following year the trio qualified for their first Summer Paralympics, the 2008 games at Beijing, finishing sixth in the Sonar class. [2]
Thomas, Robertson and Stodel would remain as a team for over 12 years, with major successes coming in the 2005 World Championships in Sønderborg and the 2006 World Championships in Perth where they took gold in their class. [3] They represented Britain in their second Paralympics, in the 2008 Games in Beijing. They again finished sixth. [3] Two silver medals in the 2010 and 2011 IFDS World Championships were followed by their third successive Paralympics, this time on home surf when the games came to London. The London Paralympics ended in disappointment for Thomas and his team mates after they were deducted four points after a team bosun cleaned the port side of their keel after being authorised to inspect the craft for damage. [5] The deduction saw the British team drop to fifth and the bronze medal going to Norway, just three points ahead of them. [6]
In the run up to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, Thomas was part of a third World Championship winning Sonar team, beating the Australian team by a single point. [7]
Thomas competed in cross-country skiing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics. He was part of the first British relay team to finish the 4 × 2.5km relay event at a Paralympics, alongside Steve Arnold, Scott Meenagh and Callum Deboys. [8]
World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitation centre in Stockholm, Sweden, and played under similar rules to standard ice hockey. Players are seated on sleds and use special hockey sticks with metal "teeth" on the tips of their handles to navigate the ice. Playing venues use an ice hockey rink.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed at the 2006 Winter Paralympics held in Turin, Italy. The team was known by it shortened name of Great Britain, for identification purposes.
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Matthew Lloyd is a British Paralympian who was born with spina bifida and two club feet. He has competed in ice sledge hockey at the 2006 Winter Paralympics, in Sitting volleyball at the 2007 European Championships, and is credited with inventing the sport of Inline sledge hockey. He was born in Crawley, Sussex but grew up in Rainhill, Merseyside and later resided in Hollym, East Riding of Yorkshire. After completing a degree in Business Information Systems, Lloyd worked within the music industry, firstly as a journalist and then within the A&R department of a major record label, before going to work extensively within the sports and leisure sectors.
Taylor Chace is an American ice sledge hockey player.
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Jonathan Bruce Harris is an Australian blue-water sailor who began his sailing career when he was about ten. He won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Hannah Stodel is a British Paralympic sailor. Stodel has represented Great Britain at three Summer Paralympics and with her colleagues John Robertson and Stephen Thomas has won multiple medals in the Mixed Sonar class at the Disabled Sailing World Championships, including gold in 2005 and 2006.
John Curtis-Robertson is a British Paralympic sailor. Curtis-Robertson has represented Great Britain at three Summer Paralympics and with his colleagues Stephen Thomas and Hannah Stodel has won multiple medals in the Mixed Sonar class at the Disabled Sailing World Championships, including skippering his team to back to back gold medals in 2005 and 2006.
Japan competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The country qualified athletes in cycling, goalball, judo, sailing, and wheelchair basketball.
Ireland competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Israel competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. They are scheduled to compete in sailing, cycling, shooting, and rowing.
John Twomey is an Irish Paralympic athlete and sailor. He has represented Ireland at 11 consecutive Paralympic games winning medals at three of them.
