Special Guest Chris Skelley helps celebrate National Paralympic Day at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

British Visually Impaired judoka Chris Skelley and British Judo Paralympic staff were guests at a special event at Queen Elizabeth Olympic to celebrate 2015 National Paralympic Day. 

The event was run at the end of July as part of the Anniversary Games, commemorating the success of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. 

Over 100 people threw themselves into judo by sampling some of the judo on offer. British Judo Paralympic Head Coach Ian Johns and VI Recruitment Officer Denny Roberts and Ian spent some time showing the audience the basics of judo before inviting them to have a go against the -100kg Paralympic hopeful Chris Skelley. 

Former Great Britain 4x400m Olympic silver medallist Ewan Thomas also got involved in the action, throwing a Chris over to over cheers from the on looking crowd in attendance. 

“It was a very successful day”, said Ian Johns. 

“It’s always great to be given the opportunity to showcase our sport to the public. 

“There were a lot of people asking so many good questions about the sport, especially the VI aspects of judo”. 

Chris Skelley enjoyed being a part of the celebrations: “It was a lot of fun except when the kids started throwing me! It’s great to see so many people have a go and learn a bit more about what judo is all about”. 

If you saw Chris and Ian at National Paralympic Day and want to give judo a try visit http://throwyourselfintojudo.com/get-involved/, or email vijudo@britishjudo.org.uk if you have a visual impairment.