3 days and counting

Today's the day - a very exciting day - for all our amazing paralympian athletes. The Paralympics 2016 Opening ceremony is tonight (9pm here in the UK).

The British Paralympian Association is my final charity and today is a very very special day, after many years of hard work; atheletes, coaches, medical staff, families, friends - each athlete is actual a team of people.

I'll be closely following one very special person - Rhys Jones. 

Rhys Jones - T37 Paralympian

Our daughter, Philippa, met Rhys through her work with the Young Ambassadors for Sport and her time as a Games Maker at the London Paralympics. She studied at South Wales University, close to Rhys' home town. They worked together for the YA scheme, Sport Wales and RCT; Rhys and Philippa were two of the VIP Commonwealth Baton Bearers when the baton traveled through Aberdare in 2014.

Rhys and Philippa - Commonwealth Baton Bearers

Rhys has worked so hard, achieved so much, his Rio bio reads:

 'Jones started athletics in 2009 and after three years, qualified for a home Paralympic Games in London. Still only 18 at the time, the Welshman finished 8th in the T37 200m final in front of the biggest crowd of his career.

Fast-forward four years and Jones has faced several injury problems in that time including surgery last year. Instead of threatening to derail his career, Jones was selected for the team in Doha where he reached the 100m final.

2014 had been an encouraging year for Jones, winning bronze for his beloved Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow before winning another bronze medal on home soil at the European Championships in Swansea, a few miles from his home town.'

Saturday is a very exciting day for Rhys too - its race day !! 

Rhys' parents will be there to watch, very exciting - Go Rhys Go !!

Follow Rhys on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 

Supercharge has been the very successful campaign for the Rio Paralympics 2016 - it's been so exciting to follow all the news, but the British Paralympic Associations work is endless - already looking at Tokyo 2020. 

Their dedication to sport, support, and training is amazing, at all levels, helping our para-athletes achieve their dreams. 

Channel 4 is covering Rio Paralympics 2016 with a catch up each morning and coverage from 1pm in the afternoon through to 1am in the morning. There is so much to watch and so many athletes to cheer for. 

The British Paralympic Association is also hosting Carnival events throughout September across the UK - you can try the various sports, meet Paralympians and celebrate Brazilian style.

Thank you to everyone who has donated - 25% of all donations will go to the British Paralympic Association. You can follow their amazing work on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

If you'd like to donate directly to the British Paralympic Association please use this link

Donation to British Paralympic Association