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 John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians *J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926), ...

and Hannah Stodel has won multiple medals in the Mixed Sonar class at the Disabled Sailing World Championships, including gold in 2005 and 2006.

Personal life

Thomas was born in 1977, growing up in the

Ogmore Valley Ogmore Valley () is a community in the Bridgend County Borough, Mid Glamorgan, Wales. Made up of the villages of Nantymoel, Ogmore Vale, Price Town and Wyndham, its population at the time of the 2001 census was 7,800, increasing to 7,954 at ...

in south Wales, but moved to Bridgend when he was ten. Thomas was a keen athlete as a youth and represented the Under 18 Wales

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team. At the age of 18 Thomas contracted

meningococcal septicaemia Meningococcal disease is a serious infection caused by ''Neisseria meningitidis'', also known as meningococcus, a gram negative diplococcus. Meningococcal disease includes meningitis, meningococcal septicemia, or a combination of both, which c ...

. 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. Thomas matriculated to

UWIC Cardiff Metropolitan University () is a public university located in Cardiff, Wales. Formerly known as the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC; , ) which was established in 1996. The university offers degree courses in a variety of d ...

in Cardiff where he studied Sport & Exercise Science.

Ice sledge hockey career

Thomas was introduced to the disability sport of

ice sledge hockey 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 rehabilitat ...

before sailing. He was at a

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

when he was approached by a stranger who asked him to join an ice sledge hockey team. 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 The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from 7 to 16 March 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the Ameri ...

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. 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. 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 Nathan Stephens (born 11 April 1988) is a Welsh former Paralympian Track and field, athlete competing mainly in category F57–58 throwing events. He was until September 2012 the world record holder in the F57 javelin throw. Life and sports Ste ...

and gold medal sprinter Richard Whitehead.

Sailing career

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. Thomas had no experience of sailing, but the team were looking for a person with his disability and physique, and he accepted their invitation. Thomas faced a steep learning curve but persisted as middleman in a Mixed

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

team alongside fellow British sailors

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. The following year the trio qualified for their first Summer Paralympics, the 2008 games at Beijing, finishing sixth in the Sonar class. 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. They represented Britain in their second Paralympics, in the 2008 Games in Beijing. They again finished sixth. 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 teammates 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. The deduction saw the British team drop to fifth and the bronze medal going to Norway, just three points ahead of them. In the run up to the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

in Rio, Thomas was part of a third World Championship winning Sonar team, beating the Australian team by a single point.

Skiing career

Thomas competed in

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

at the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), also known as XIII Paralympic Winter Games, commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), were an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter ...

. 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.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Stephen 1977 births Living people Paralympic sailors for Great Britain British male sailors (sport) Sailors at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Ice sledge hockey players at the 2006 Winter Paralympics Sportspeople from Bridgend