Bunbury man Stuart Wood has clinched his place at the Tokyo Paralympics next year after a medal-winning performance in the para canoe world championships.
Wood, who had already won the European Championships, competed in the world finals in Hungary in August.
And he came third, winning a bronze medal for English Canoe team and gaining an automatic selection for the Olympics next year.
It marks an amazing year for the former Tarporley High pupil who had a leg amputated at the age of one.
The 24-year-old was born with a congenital condition that meant he was missing his tibia bone in one leg.
He had a through knee amputation as a toddler and quickly learned to walk with a specially made artificial leg.
Stuart grew up with mum and dad Tina and Nigel in Bunbury, attending the village primary school before attending Tarporley High school from 2005 to 2012.
He was an active member of the school karting team along with his brothers and parents, and scooped an impressive collection of trophies from a range of karting events including the National Schools Championships.
Stuart left Tarporley school and after completing his joint honours maths and physics degree at Bath University, he moved to Nottingham to join the British Para Canoeing team based in National Water Centre.
While training he also completed an MSc in computing at University of Nottingham, and lives in the city with his girlfriend.
Now he is racing in both kayak and canoe, and has been selected for the next World Championships in Poznan, Poland.
He secured his place on the team by smashing the course record in a qualifying regatta competition last week.
As a para athlete he has some National Lottery funding but also works in software development to help fund his World Championship and Olympic dreams.
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