In Tokyo 2020, Nick Cummins, alongside 11 other Team GB Paralympic athletes, achieved the team's first ever medal in Wheelchair Rugby, as they swept to gold with a 54-49 victory over the USA.
It was the culmination of a difficult journey for Cummins, who had narrowly missed out on selection for the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro.
"I wasn’t selected for Rio and that was immensely disappointing. It’s a massive accomplishment and privilege to go to the Paralympics, so to then be selected for the Tokyo games was an amazing experience and so brilliant to do it alongside Tigers players as well."
Team GB's success saw four Tigers pick up medals, including Gavin Walker who captained the team to first place. This time around, as GB prepare to defend their title, five Tigers have been included in the squad, including Cummins, Walker, Jamie Stead, Kieran Flynn and Tyler Walker.
Asked about the quality of the squad and the side's evolution, Cummins was enthused about the emergence of new players and the confidence of the squad.
"We’re always developing things as a team, refining things," he said.
"We’ve lost a couple of key players from Tokyo but we’ve added new players in who bring a lot, aswell as new tactics that we are really looking forward to deploying in Paris. Tyler (Walker) has joined up with us; he’s only 20 years old and brings a fresh enthusiasm, a new skill set.
"We’re coming into this tournament really strong. Our training camp finished really well, we’re Paralympic champions and we know we can perform in big events so we’ve got a lot of confidence. We haven’t had the perfect cycle, I wouldn’t say, but we are the favourites and we’re feeling good."
Cummins emphasised his eagerness to experience a different Paralympics from the unusual circumstances from the 2020 edition in Tokyo, expressing his disappointment about the fact there was ‘no spectators’ and showed his desire to play in France in front of a ‘sell-out crowd’.
"I was really excited for Tokyo because it was postponed and we didn’t know if if was gonna happen, so it just felt like a massive blessing. It obviously wasn’t quite the same as the normal Paralympic experience and I’ve missed out on that as there was no spectators or anything," Cummins said.
On Paris 2024, Cummins added "I’m really looking forward to it, especially when we play France."
"To play France in front of a sell-out crowd, right next to Eifel Tower, is gonna be massive and I’m really excited."
Finally, on their opponents, Cummins is taking things one game at a time.
"I wouldn’t say for sure that we were the favourites," he said.
"You can never discount the Australians: they are the World Champions, have been winning so many tournaments in the build up and we’ve got them in our group so we know just how good they are. Equally Japan, the USA, Denmark will all be up there. There is no weak team in this tournament."
Team GB campaign gets underway on August 29, with the first game being the curtain raiser versus world champions Australia, before clashes with Denmark and then the hosts, France.
Team GB Match Schedule:
- Thursday, August 29 (11.30am) – Great Britain v Australia
- Friday, August 30 (11.30am) – Great Britain v Denmark
- Saturday, August 31 (7.30pm) – Great Britain v France
