Brighton Paralympian takes bronze in judo

Brighton sportsman Ben Quilter has won bronze in the men’s under 60kg judo at the Paralympic Games in London.

Quilter, 30, beat Takaaki Hirai from Japan yesterday after losing to the defending champion Mouloud Noura from Algeria in his first bout on the opening day of the Games.

He suffered a knee injury just seven weeks ago, snapping the cruciate ligament and rupturing the medial ligaments.

He said: “It’s been a really difficult approach for me. I didn’t step back on the judo mat until about two weeks before (the Games).”

The twice world champion added: “I had to change some of my tactics. It’s remarkable that I’m even here.”

Kent-based Quilter, who finished fifth at the Beijing Games four years ago, paid tribute to the supportive crowd at the Excel Centre in East London.

He took up the sport at the age of seven but at 10 years old he had Stargardt’s disease, a rare genetic sight condition, diagnosed.

The slow deterioration in his sight since then has left him with no central vision and only limited peripheral vision.