Local Paralympian Aims for Fourth Consecutive Medal

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Former Riverdale Primary and ADT College student heading for Paris 2024

Aaron McKibbin, soon-to-be four-time Paralympian

August 16, 2024

Three-time Paralympian and triple bronze medallist, Aaron McKibbin, is going for glory again in Paris later this month.

Aaron, who will turn 33 the day before the opening ceremony, is looking forward to representing Team GB in Table Tennis for the fourth consecutive games. He was born with bilateral talipese (club foot) and competes in the Class 8 singles and class 18 doubles Table Tennis.

He was born and bred the area and attended Riversdale Primary, followed by ADT college for secondary education (now Ashcroft Technology Academy). Aaron only started playing Table Tennis properly as a 16-year-old at school. It was a wet break activity when it rained and students were not allowed out in the playground.

Aaron recalls how he first got into Table Tennis saying, “My first love was actually tennis. An after-school coach spotted me play one day and said I had talent to take up Table Tennis. I didn’t really see it as a proper sport to be honest. But I soon grew to love it and could see the similarities with tennis.”

Hearing stories about the potential to travel around the world and join international competitions convinced Aaron Table Tennis was something worth pursuing. He joined a club in Tooting Bec called York Gardens and trained with adults.

From there, Aaron started playing in local competitions as well as national grand prix events. He was spotted by talent-scouts and asked if he had considered training for Paralympics trials to represent Team GB at the upcoming London 2012 games.

Aaron never saw himself as disabled - something he attributes to being raised in a household where he was encouraged to compete with his peers as an equal from an early age. So, the idea of training for the Paralympics seemed far-fetched at the time.

When he spoke to his family about the opportunity, they reminded him that his dream growing up was to play tennis. Why not now grab this opportunity and pursue Table Tennis. “That clicked with me” said Aaron, “I went up to a talent camp in Sheffield and then soon after I was wearing GB colours for the first time at a competition in Romania. I thought to myself, ‘this is what I want to do!’”

“Qualifications for London 2012 started and I realised I was nowhere near the standard I needed to be. So, I went from training 3 hours a week in Wandsworth to intensive 6-hour days in the national training centre in Sheffield.”

Aaron made the team and won a surprise maiden medal in London. He followed this with bronze at Rio in 2016 and then again at Tokyo 2020.

Aaron recalls his different experiences – “I was very young when I went to my first games in London. It was a home crowd which was great but looking back I was probably a bit too serious. I enjoyed Rio a lot more. I relaxed and soaked up the atmosphere as much as I could. Table Tennis is huge in Japan so it was a real shame that Tokyo became the ‘Covid games’ and we didn’t get to experience the buzz of the crowd there. But this makes me even more determined to enjoy every minute of Paris.”

Aaron says he is now “proud to say I’ve got a disability”. He recognises how important it is for young people to see local people like him go to the Paralympics. He hopes other young people from Wandsworth will think about taking up a sport this summer, whether they have a disability or not.

“My message to any young person taking up sport is to enjoy yourself. You might want to be a winner but go out there and find something you like doing, that’s the most important thing.

“I’m the person I am because of Table Tennis. It’s taught me discipline, hard work, problem-solving skills, the ability to interact with athletes and coaches. I’ve met people from around the world and learnt about so many different cultures.

“Sport has changed my life and I believe it has the power to do that for everyone!”

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