A WORLD champion who is a member of a training group based at Pitreavie has been selected to run at the Paralympic Games.
Ben Sandilands, who is a member of Fife AC, is amongst the first 10 athletes who have been selected to represent Team GB at the event in Paris.
ParalympicsGB recently announced the initial group of competitors who will be part of the squad and Ben, who last year won the T20 classification 1500 metres title at the Para Athletics World Championships, is amongst them.
Coached by Steve Doig, whose training group at Pitreavie also includes club-mate and West Fife star Owen Miller, who memorably ran to the T20 1500m Paralympic title at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, Ben, 20, will make his Paralympic debut in Paris, where he won his world title.
He is one of two Scots, alongside T53 100m, 400m and 800m competitor, Samantha Kinghorn, to have been included in the first group of athletes chosen, which includes Paralympic and world champions, and, on July 20, is to compete within para events at the London meeting of the Diamond League.
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ā London Athletics Meet (@London_DL) June 24, 2024
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Penny Briscoe, Chef de Mission of Paralympics GB, said: "Iām delighted to welcome such a strong group of experienced and talented Para athletes to the ParalympicsGB team for Paris 2024.
"All 10 individuals have already shown what they are capable of at the highest level, so I am really excited to see what they can achieve at the Paralympic Games in Paris later this summer."
Tommy Yule, para athletics team leader at the Paralympic Games, added: "Congratulations to all 10 athletes for earning their call-up to Paris 2024.
"They have all worked incredibly hard with their support networks to get to this point, so they should be proud of their achievement."
Later this month, on July 22, the second and final wave of para athletics selection takes place, with the full team announced soon afterwards.
Owen, 32, was forced to pull out of the Team GB squad that competed at the World Para Athletics Championships this year in Kobe, Japan, in May through injury.
Owen Miller is the current T20 1500m Paralympic champion. (Image: David Wardle.)
READ MORE: Track star Owen to miss World Para Athletics Championships
At the time, Steve said that he picked up what "seemed to be like an adductor issue, on the inside of the thigh", and that "the hope is that he can turn things round and get back training for Paralympic selection".
The 2024 Paralympic Games will be held between August 28 - September 8.
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