The group, which is led by BPA director of sport Penny Briscoe, has been established to ensure ParalympicsGB athletes are prepared as best as possible to deliver medal success at Paralympic Games, with the focus now on the Rio 2016 cycle.

Its main priorities include monitoring and reporting on the effectiveness of various preparation strategies and providing accurate information regarding the preparation of the ParalympicsGB team to the BPA's Board.

In addition, the group will ensure the BPA's mission, vision and strategic priorities are central in the planning and implementation phases and ensure the effective use of resources.

"The Sport Advisory Group was set up to provide strategic advice around the preparation of the team and is a part of the BPA's long-term ambition to be the best prepared team for each Paralympic Games," said Briscoe.

"Today we have covered lots of ground and we've had in-depth discussions on some crucial aspects of our planning for Rio and some of our learnings from Sochi.

"I am very pleased with how this first meeting has gone.

"All of us at the BPA want to ensure we are doing the very best to support our sports and to develop the best ParalympicsGB team so we want to consult regularly with representatives from sporting organisations and from a range of sporting backgrounds.

"The knowledge and expertise that we had around the table today was absolutely world-class and ultimately the whole team in Rio will benefit from this."

Alpine skier Kelly Gallagher was Britain's latest Paralympic gold medallist with her win at Sochi 2014 ©Getty Images



Joining Briscoe on the group are BPA Board members Anna-Marie Phelps and Paul Masters, Jamie Pringle from the English Institute of Sport, UK Sport's Michelle Hammond and current head of performance pathway at British Swimming, Tim Jones.

Paralympian Dave Clarke, who represented Britain at three Paralympic Games in football-five-a-side, is also part of the group.

Clarke was appointed as the chairman of the BPA's newly formed Athletes' Commission last November.

Today's meeting is the first of a scheduled three meetings of the Sport Advisory Group this year.

Britain secured its best ever finish at a Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi in March with six medals including gold for Alpine skier Kelly Gallagher.

At London 2012, ParalympicsGB finished third on the overall medals table with 120 medals including 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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