Rio 2016 Paralympics: Meet our athletes going for gold
The Paralympic Games in Rio start on Wednesday night and the North East is well represented.Here are our heroes who will be in going for gold.
Stephen Miller: Athletics
Three-time Paralympic champion Stephen, from Cramlington, is one of the most decorated para-athletes.After captaining the British team in 2012, he will be targeting a sixth consecutive Paralympic Games.
Jade Jones: Athletics
Teesside University student Jade, from Middlesbrough, won silver and bronze in Swansea in 2014 and a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow, the same year.
Terry Bywater: Wheelchair Basketball
The 33-year-old, from Redcar, made his major debut at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games aged just 17.He then represented ParalympicsGB at the following three games, winning two bronze medals.
Laurence Whiteley: Rowing
Laurence, from Northallerton, is set to make his Paralympic debut at the Rio 2016 games.Laurence won the Home International Regatta in his first year of competition then struck gold at both the British and European Indoor Rowing Championships in 2012 as well as the British National Championships.
Matt Crossen: Football 7-a-side
Matt, from Stockton, is set to make his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016.Matt played in the Northern League Division 1 for Marske United until he had a stroke at the age of 23. The defender made his debut for England at the 2015 Cerebral Palsy World Championships, where the team qualified their slot for Rio by finishing in 5th place. At that tournament, he scored his first goals for his country against America and Ireland.
John Robertson: Sailing
John, from Sunderland, has represented ParalympicsGB at three Paralympic Games.He started sailing with his father aged 11 and became the first skipper in the history of disabled Sonar sailing to helm his crew to back-to-back IFDS World titles in 2005 and 2006.
Josef Craig: Swimming
Josef, from Jarrow, was just 15 when he smashed the world record in both the heat and final of the 400m freestyle S7 in London 2012.Later that year he was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.Despite a reclassification from S7 to S8 following London 2012, he made an instant impact at his debut IPC Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven in 2014, coming away with a haul of three bronze medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle S8 and the 4x100m freestyle relay 34pt. He took silver in the 400m freestyle S8 at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships in Portugal.He was awarded an MBE in the 2013 New Year's Honours list.
Matt Wylie: Swimming
Matt is said to be an emerging talent in the S9 classification on the British ParaSwimming team. In 2014 he made his IPC Swimming European Championship debut in Eindhoven, qualifying for the final in both the 400m freestyle S9 and the 50m freestyle S9, finishing 4th and 8th respectively.At the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships later he topped the podium in the 50m freestyle S9.Wylie trains alongside Josef Craig.