William John Bayley (born 17 January 1988) is a British professional Paralympic

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player, ranked world number 1. He is the 2016 Summer Paralympics Games gold medallist and the 2014 World Champion. From September 2019 Bayley participated in the seventeenth series of '' Strictly Come Dancing'', paired with professional dancer Janette Manrara.

Personal life

Bayley was born on 17 January 1988 in

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. He was born with

arthrogryposis Arthrogryposis (AMC) describes congenital joint contracture in two or more areas of the body. It derives its name from Greek, literally meaning "curving of joints" (', "joint"; ', late Latin form of late Greek ', "hooking"). Children born with one ...

which affects all four of his limbs. At the age of seven he was diagnosed with cancer. During his recovery he began playing table tennis after his grandmother bought him his first table.

Career

At the age of 12 he joined the Byng Hall Table Tennis Club in Tunbridge Wells, and went on to represent Kent's able bodied men's team. From the age of 17 he has lived and trained full-time at the

English Institute of Sport The English Institute of Sport (EIS), established in May 2002, is an organisation which provides sport science and medical support services to elite athletes through a nationwide network of expertise and facilities, working with Olympic and Pa ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. He represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China, where he was knocked out of the

C7 singles in the preliminary round after defeats against Germany's

Jochen Wollmert Jochen Wollmert (born 22 November 1964) is a German Paralympic table tennis player. He won his first individual Paralympic medal, a bronze, at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Since then he has won individual gold at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Paraly ...

and Ukraine's Mykhaylo Popov and a single victory against Shumel Shur of Israel. He also competed in the C6-8 team event along with

Paul Karabardak Paul Arif Karabardak (born 3 October 1985) is a Welsh para table tennis player who has competed in three Summer Paralympics. Biography Karabardak was a keen footballer when he was a child but he suffered from a massive stroke aged 10, he play ...

and David Wetherill; they were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage. In 2009, he won gold medals at the Czech and German opens, in 2010 he took golds in Lignano and Brazil. Bayley won a gold medal in the singles at the 2011 European Championships in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

, Croatia. He also won a silver medal in the men's Team event class 7, playing alongside Karabardak. At the end of 2011 he was voted the European Players' Player of the Year and in January 2012 he achieved the world number one ranking. Bayley won a silver medal in the London 2012 Summer Paralympics after losing to Germany's Jochen Wollmert in the class 7 final. At the Rio

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

, Bayley won his first Paralympic gold medal after beating home-favourite Brazilian Israel Pereira Stroh. He received a yellow card for jumping up onto the table in celebration. Bayley again won silver at the delayed Tokyo 2020 games, his third successive Paralympic medal. He went on to win silver in the team event, where he had a rematch in the final against Yan Shuo, who he lost his olympic title to a week earlier. Bayley 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

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to table tennis.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

From September 2019 Bayley participated in the seventeenth series of '' Strictly Come Dancing'', paired with professional dancer Janette Manrara. The couple's Contemporary dance, to Lukas Graham's song " 7 Years", was dedicated to the patients and staff at

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospit ...

, where Bayley had been treated for cancer, aged seven. Michael Hogan of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' said the pair "... didn't leave a dry eye in the house after their beautiful, barefoot contemporary dance." Due to a knee injury, sustained from a studio rehearsal, Bayley was unable to perform in week 6 (Halloween Week). Under the rules of the competition, he was given a "bye" to the following week, however, it was later confirmed that he had withdrawn from the competition. He said, "I'm gutted my Strictly journey has had to come to an end. I've loved being part of the show." :

Alfonso Ribeiro Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and television host. He is best known for his roles as Alfonso Spears on the sitcom ''Silver Spoons'', Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ...

filled in for Tonioli

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayley, Will 1988 births Living people English male table tennis players Paralympic medalists in table tennis Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Royal Tunbridge Wells Members of the Order of the British Empire Paralympic table tennis players for Great Britain