Ayaz Mazeed Bhuta (born 17 April 1989) is a British

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US na ...

player and a former

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

player who currently plays for the

Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team The Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team represents Great Britain in international wheelchair rugby. Great Britain is the most successful team in European competition, winning six gold medals at the European Championship and a gold at t ...

. He has represented

Great Britain at the Paralympics The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has participated (under the name "Great Britain") in every summer and winter Paralympic Games. While the Olympic Games find their origin in Greece, Britain, and specifically the Stoke Mande ...

in 2016 and 2020.

Biography

Ayaz was born with a rare genetic disorder called

Roberts Syndrome Roberts syndrome, or sometimes called pseudothalidomide syndrome, is an extremely rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder that is characterized by mild to severe prenatal retardation or disruption of cell division, leading to malformation of th ...

which affects the growth of bones in arms and legs. He studied at

Mount St Joseph School Mount St Joseph School is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary school located in Farnworth, Greater Manchester, England. History Mount St Joseph School was established in 1902 by the Sisters of the Cross and Passion. Direct grant gramma ...

Career

He initially played wheelchair basketball but later switched to wheelchair rugby in 2009. He began playing club rugby in 2009 and was subsequently selected to the national team in 2010 for a tri-nation series in Australia. However, after playing in the tri nation tournament in Australia he was axed from the team due to his size. He later worked on his fitness levels and was picked for GBWR Development Squad in 2011. He made his comeback return to the Great Britain team after the end of the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

. He made his Paralympic debut representing

Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed, under the name Great Britain, at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places for which the team qualified were for six athletes in sail ...

and was part of the national wheelchair team which finished at fifth position in the team competition. He was also a key member of the team which won the European Wheelchair Championships in 2015 and 2017. He won a gold medal with the Great Britain team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics the first time the country had won a medal of any colour in the sport at the Paralympic Games. Bhuta was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to wheelchair rugby.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhuta, Ayaz 1989 births Living people British wheelchair rugby players Paralympic wheelchair rugby players for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics English Muslims Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Bolton