Will Arnott (born 12 March 1999 in Reading, Berkshire) is a Paralympian who made his Paralympic debut in boccia at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Paralympic Games, Summer Paralympics (french: Jeux paralympiques d'été de 2024), commonly known as the Games of the XVII Paralympiad, and commonly known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international Multi-sport event, multi-sport paraspo ...

in Paris. Arnott was diagnosed with

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

at the age of five. He attended Treloar School. Arnott initially competed in the BC4 classification, but after surgery at the age of 15 was unable to throw anymore so switched to compete in the BC3 classification using a ramp. He first represented the UK Boccia team at 2019 Zagreb Regional Open, where he won a silver medal alongside ramp assistant Connor Wellfare. The pair competed at the 2022 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro where they reached the quarter-finals, but were defeated by the Paralympic Champion Adam Peska of Czech Republic. He secured a qualifying spot for the 2024 Paralympics by winning gold in the BC3 Pairs category at the qualifying tournament in Portugal alongside

Sally Kidson Sally may refer to: People * Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military * Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, the Allied reporting ...

in March 2024. The pair lost their opening two games, 7–0 to Greece and 4–3 to Peru, but then beat the hosts 4-1 and Singapore 4–1 to reach the semi-finals where they defeated Poland 5–4. In the final they defeated Japan 4–2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, David 1999 births Living people Paralympic boccia players for Great Britain Boccia players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics People from Reading, Berkshire People with muscular dystrophy