A NORTH Lancashire paralympic athlete and serviceman who has competed around the world has been selected to represent Team GB in the King Power Quad Nations wheelchair rugby tournament.

Former RAF serviceman Stuart Robinson, who lives in Morecambe, will represent his country, which is due to play against Japan, Canada and France at the beginning of March.

The 36-year-old, who has already tasted wheelchair rugby success at the Invictus Games in 2016, winning a bronze medal, was also selected for the Paralympic Inspiration Programme in 2016, and attended the Rio Paralympic games. In 2017 he was again part of the Invictus team, along with being part of the quad which successfully retained its title at the 2017 European championships.

Last year he played in the inaugural Quad Nations Event held in Leicester.

He said he was thrilled to be back again for a second chance to take the title from current champions Japan.

“To represent Team GB once again is an honour and the whole team is looking forward to playing with some of the best athletes in the world. We are determined to win this year and are training hard to make sure we take home the title, as we believe we are at the top of our game,” he said.

Stuart was serving with the RAF Regiment and on his fourth tour of Afghanistan when he was injured by an explosion.

He was introduced to the fast-paced sport in 2014 and hasn’t looked back.

Players compete in specially-designed, manual wheelchairs and must meet a minimum disability criterion, classifiable under the sport classification rules. All competing athletes were either born with physical disabilities, or have suffered illness which has affected their mobility, or experienced life-changing injuries through accidents, including those serving in the armed forces.

The tournament will be held at Leicester’s Morningside Arena between Friday, March 1 and Sunday, March 3, bringing together three days of the world’s best ‘Murderball’ teams for an intense, elite-standard competition.

Great Britain will be up against Japan, who won the gold medal at the World Wheelchair Rugby Championships in Sydney last summer; Canada, currently ranked fourth in the world and France, ranked seventh.

For more details visit www.wrquadnations.com