Thomas "Tom" Matthews (born 19 August 1992) is a British Paralympic table tennis player. At the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

, he won a bronze medal in the Men's individual class 1 event. Matthews is also a

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

champion and a

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

bronze medalist. In 2009, Matthews was a very keen

mountain biker Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durabilit ...

, he went out for a bike ride with his uncle and a friend. Matthews went over the handle bars and broke his neck after going down a mountain too fast. While in rehabilitation in

Rookwood Hospital Rookwood Hospital () was a rehabilitation hospital situated in Llandaff, in the city of Cardiff in South Wales. It was managed by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. History Rookwood was built for Colonel Sir Edward Hill in 1886; he, an ...

, he was encouraged to try table tennis by Welsh para table tennis Paralympic medalist James Munkley when Munkley was visiting hospital wards in Wales and then Matthews joined the Welsh table tennis team in 2013 and competed internationally a year later.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Thomas 1992 births Living people Welsh male table tennis players Paralympic table tennis players for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in table tennis Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Merthyr Tydfil 21st-century British sportsmen