High jumper Jonathan Broom-Edwards considers the Paris crowd to be “a beast to tame” when he defends his Paralympic title in France later this year.
Broom-Edwards was one of 10 British athletes named in the ParalympicsGB team in the first selection phase on Friday, with the rest of the athletics squad to be announced next month.
The 36-year-old from Essex, who is taking part in his third Games, will be accompanied by his fellow Paralympics and world champions: athletics star Hannah Cockroft, shot putter Aled Sion Davies and javelin specialist Dan Pembroke.
Shot putter Sabrina Fortune and javelin thrower Hollie Arnold, who both won gold at the World Championships in Kobe last month, were also named, as were track and field athletes Sammi Kinghorn and Ben Sandilands, who triumphed at the 2023 World Championships in Paris, and sprinter Kare Adenegan and long jumper Olivia Breen, who won silver medals in France.
Broom-Edwards, who took silver on his debut at the 2016 Rio Games before winning his first Paralympic title in Tokyo with only team members and other athletes to support him, told BBC Sport he was delighted to have a crowd supporting him in France.
“In Tokyo, being in the stadium still gave me a boost, but nothing compares to a really full stadium,” he said.
“I got my first glimpse of it in Rio in 2016 and then experienced it for myself when I worked as an expert at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham during the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“It’s a beast that you have to tame and you have to be prepared for it, but you also have to allow it to carry you – in my case to greater heights.”
Broom-Edwards, who was born with a clubfoot, had always been a high jumper but only realised after the 2012 London Games that his disability qualified him for Paralympic competition.