Thomas "Tom" Matthews (born 19 August 1992) is a British Paralympic table tennis player.
At the
2020 Summer Paralympics, he won a bronze medal in the
Men's individual class 1 event.
Matthews is also a
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
champion and a
World
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
bronze medalist.
In 2009, Matthews was a very keen
mountain biker
Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...
, he went out for a bike ride with his uncle and a friend. Matthews went over the handle bars and broke his neck after going down a mountain too fast. While in rehabilitation in
Rookwood Hospital
Rookwood Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Rookwood) is a rehabilitation hospital situated in Llandaff, in the city of Cardiff in South Wales. It is managed by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
History
Rookwood was built for Colonel Sir Edward Hill ...
, he was encouraged to try table tennis by Welsh para table tennis Paralympic medalist
James Munkley when Munkley was visiting hospital wards in Wales and then Matthews joined the Welsh table tennis team in 2013 and competed internationally a year later.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Thomas
1992 births
Living people
Welsh male table tennis players
Paralympic table tennis players for Great Britain
Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain
Paralympic medalists in table tennis
Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
Sportspeople from Merthyr Tydfil