Peter Robert Norfolk OBE (born 13 December 1960) is a British

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis Adaptive sport, adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designe ...

player. Following a motorbike accident which left him

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

, he uses a wheelchair. He took up tennis and following a further spinal complication in 2000, he began competing in the quad division. He is nicknamed The Quadfather. He has multiple Grand Slam and Super Series titles, and competed for Great Britain at the Summer Paralympics when tennis made its first appearance at Athens 2004. He won the gold medal in the singles, and defended it at

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, as well as adding a bronze medal in the doubles. He competed in his third Paralympics in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

in London, where he was also the flagbearer for Great Britain at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

. Norfolk announced his retirement in January 2013.

Early life

Norfolk was born in London on 13 December 1960. Norfolk became a

after motorbike accident in 1979 at the age of 19. He was hospitalised for over a year, and the disability resulted in him requiring a wheelchair. There was a further complication in 2000, damage was caused to

cervical spinal nerve 7 The cervical spinal nerve 7 (C7) is a spinal nerve A spinal nerve is a mixed nerve, which carries Motor neuron, motor, Sensory neuron, sensory, and Autonomic nervous system, autonomic signals between the spinal cord and the body. In the human bo ...

resulted in Norfolk additionally losing strength in his right arm and shoulder.

Tennis career

Norfolk became a

player at the age of 30, having seen a demonstration at

Stoke Mandeville Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (5 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil ...

. He competes in the quad division. This means he competes against other players with a disability in at least three limbs. He plays with a tennis racket taped to his hand, and competes in the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour. He was the first person to win a Paralympic medal for Britain in tennis when he took gold in the quads singles at the

2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September ...

in Athens, defeating David Wagner of the United States. It had been the first occasion where a tennis event had been included in a Paralympic programme. He also won a silver medal with Mark Eccleston in the quad doubles event. Following his victories, in 2005 he was invited to perform the

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ahead of the men's singles final at Wimbledon. He represented

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again at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

in Beijing, winning gold in the singles event and bronze in doubles with Jamie Burdekin. He sees the defeat in the semi-final as the biggest disappointment in his tennis career. In the 2010 season, he missed out on finishing overall as world number one by eight ranking points, despite winning the end of season Wheelchair Masters tournament. He beat Wagner 6–3, 7–6 (7–4), but his opponent ended the season one place above him in the rankings. Wagner beat him at the 2011 Australian Open, marking the first occasion Norfolk had been defeated in an Australian Open final, having previously defeated Wagner in on four occasions in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2010. It did however mark the first occasion that Norfolk had won a doubles tournament in Australia, partnered with Andrew Lapthorne. He regained the Australian Open title in 2012, beating Wagner in the final and becoming world number one once more. It marked his fifth victory at the grand slam tournament. He was also victorious once more in the doubles, teaming with Lapthorne again to defeat Wagner and his partner Noam Gershony. He carried the torch in Liverpool during the

2012 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011. As well as touring the United Kingdom the ...

. He was the winner of both the singles and the doubles events in the pre-Paralympic test event at

Eton Manor Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre is a sports and leisure venue located in Leyton, London Borough of Waltham Forest, to the north of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It is regularly used for international field hockey fixtures by both the Great ...

in May 2012. On 19 June 2012 was named once more to the British squad for the Paralympics, to compete at

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He is one of three men's quad division tennis players, alongside Burdekin and Lapthorne. He admitted that the Games placed a great deal of pressure on his performance saying, "This year is about the Paralympics and everyone is expecting me to win, so it will be my year to see where I'm at." In the event, he did not win a medal in the singles, losing his quarter-final match to

Shraga Weinberg Shraga Weinberg (; born 25 March 1966 in Petah Tikva) is an Israeli wheelchair tennis player. Weinberg was born in 1966, paralyzed in his upper body. He also has bone density abnormalities, which caused him to go through many surgeries in his ...

, but won silver in the doubles, again partnered with Andrew Lapthorne. Norfolk has multiple Super Series titles. He has finished the year as world number one on five occasions, and won the Team World Cup three times. He has a rivalry with Wagner, with the two swapping the number one and number two ranked positions in the quad division on a regular basis. Norfolk was awarded the Carl Aarvold Award for International Achievement by the

Lawn Tennis Association The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man founded in 1888. The LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. The organization believes tennis can provide ...

in 2012. Norfolk was voted to carry the British flag at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London. Norfolk announced his retirement in January 2013. He was part of Channel Four's commentary team for the Tokyo Paralympics that were held in 2021.

Personal life

In 1989, Peter founded a company called Equipment for the Physically Challenged, which specialises in mobility equipment for physically disabled people. He is married to a sports physiotherapist named Linda, and has two children. He was named a

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, and an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, in both cases for services to disabled sport. He uses tennis rackets from Prince Sports, and his sports wheelchair is by Quickie Matchpoint.

Grand Slam titles

;Singles * 2007 US Open *

2008 Australian Open The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 thro ...

* 2009 Australian Open * 2010 Australian Open * 2012 Australian Open ;Doubles * 2011 Australian Open * 2012 Australian Open

References

;General * * ;Specific

External links

* * * Peter Norfolk's Official Website *
EPC Wheelchairs
Peter Norfolk's UK-Based Wheelchair company {{DEFAULTSORT:Norfolk, Peter 1960 births Living people British male tennis players British wheelchair tennis players Paralympic wheelchair tennis players for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in wheelchair tennis Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Wheelchair tennis players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair tennis players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Officers of the Order of the British Empire Tennis players from London ITF number 1 ranked wheelchair tennis players English male tennis players Survivors of road incidents People with paraplegia 21st-century English sportsmen