Matthew Harding

Started: In 2021 he switched his focus from Para swimming to Para powerlifting. (wmc.ac.uk, 14 Apr 2022) Reason: He switched from Para swimming to Para powerlifting after he missed out on the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, where he had hoped to compete in the pool. "There had to be another pathway to the Paralympic Games and I found my love for this [Para powerlifting] and it's been an absolutely perfect road since." (paralympic.org, 13 Oct 2022) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (wmc.ac.uk, 14 Apr 2022) Awards: In 2016 he received the Swimmer of the Year award from Wirral Metro Swimming Club in England. (wirralmetro.co.uk, 03 Apr 2019) As a student he won the Association of Colleges [AoC] Achievement in Disability Sport Award. (wmc.ac.uk, 14 Apr 2022) Additional Info: LOSS OF FATHER His father passed away in early 2022. When Harding won gold in the 72kg category at the 2022 European Open Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, he dedicated the victory to his late father. "During the start of the year I lost my dad to cancer and I always wanted to show what I'm capable of to him. To win the Europeans, to hold on to that, thinking of his smile, that's who I'm doing it for. Unfortunately, he's only seen one of my [Para powerlifting] competitions, which were the world champs last year [2021] and that was only online. He was meant to go to the [2022] Commonwealth Games with them being on home soil and he passed away just before that so to do this, he was with me today." (paralympic.org, 13 Oct 2022)