Christopher Peter Skelley (born 9 August 1993) 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 ...

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

ka who competes in the visually impaired under 100 kg category. In 2016 it was announced that he has been selected to represent Great Britain at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in Rio. In 2021 Chris became Paralympic champion after winning Gold in the -100 kg category in the Tokyo Paralympics.

Personal history

Skelley was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and raised in Swindon. As a youth he was a keen athlete and enjoyed many sports playing rugby for

Hull Ionians Hull Ionians is a rugby union club in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 ...

. After leaving school he took a job at a local garage, but it was noticed that his eyesight was deteriorating. He was diagnosed with

ocular albinism Ocular albinism is a form of albinism which, in contrast to oculocutaneous albinism, presents primarily in the eyes. There are multiple forms of ocular albinism, which are clinically similar.James, William; Berger, Timothy; Elston, Dirk (2005). ' ...

. Skelley is married to Louise Hunt.

Judo career

Skelley took up judo as a sport at the age of five. A successful judoka, he was already part of the England squad when his eyesight began to fail. He slowly began to focus more on his judo and was brought onto the Great Britain visually impaired team. Competing in the under 100 kg category, Skelley took three bronze medals at the under-20 national tournament between 2010 and 2013. In 2014 he represented his country at the Scottish Open, taking gold in his division. The same year he won silver in the Welsh Senior Open. In December 2015 Skelley represented Britain at the IBSA European Judo Championship in Portugal. There he missed out on the final after being beaten by a last second yuko scoring throw by his Russian opponent Abdula Kuramagomedov, the current world champion. Skelley secured the bronze by beating Ibrahim Bolukbasi of Turkey. In February 2016 Skelly was selected as part of a four-man to compete for Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, along with

Sam Ingram Sam Ingram (born 21 August 1985) is a British Paralympic Judo competitor who represented the United Kingdom at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Personal history Ingram was born in 1985. Origina ...

, Jack Hodgson and Jonathan Drane. In the build-up to the Games, Skelley and his three team-mates travelled to Rio in early March to take part in a Judo Grand Prix competition. Skelley took bronze in his match in a contest which featured many of the competitors who had already qualified for the Summer Paralympics. Skelley 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 judo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skelley, Chris 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Nottingham Sportspeople from Kingston upon Hull English male judoka Paralympic judoka of Great Britain Judoka at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Judoka at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire