With the Paralympic Games ending in Paris on Sunday (8 September), we are proud of the achievements of our veterans who won gold and our serving personnel who competed at the Olympic Games.
Jaco van Gass (centre) with C1-5 750M Team Sprint members Kadeena Cox (left) and Jody Cundy (right)
Jaco van Gass at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Gregg Stevenson with PR2 Double Skulls - Mixed teammate Lauren Rowles
Jaco van Gass, 38, won the gold medal in both the Men's Individual Pursuit C3 and Mixed Team Sprint C1-5 para-cycling events.
South African-born Jaco came to Britain at the age of 20 to pursue his ambition of joining the Parachute Regiment.
After completing his training, he deployed to Afghanistan. It was during his second tour of the country that he sustained life-changing injuries, including losing his left arm below the elbow, after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Following his injuries, Jaco undertook some incredible physical challenges, including trekking to the North Pole with a team of wounded soldiers.
He made his international debut for the GB Para-Cycling team in 2013.
In the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Jaco won gold medals in the Mixed 750m Team Sprint C1-C5 and Men’s Pursuit C3 as well as a bronze medal in the 1000m Time Trial C1-C3.
Jaco’s gold medals in Paris are even more impressive as, just a week before the Paralympics began, he was hit by a car. While checking out the road and time trial course, the vehicle pulled out in front of Jaco and he was sent flying over the bonnet. For a few hours, he thought his chances of riding had gone:
“I was heartbroken… I had a big cut on my head, but I had a few scans and I was cleared. The next day is always the hardest because that’s when you’re very sore and stiff. The Saturday was very hard to comprehend – will I be riding? By the Sunday I was on the track.”
Huge congratulations to all our serving and veteran athletes on their remarkable performances at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. Your courage, discipline, and commitment have led to this incredible achievement. You’ve made us all immensely proud
Gregg Stevenson, 40, competed in the Mixed Double Skulls PR2 in Paris with his rowing partner Lauren Rowles where they won gold following a dramatic finish, beating the Chinese team to the line.
Gregg served with 59 Commando Squadron Royal Engineers before suffering a traumatic injury in 2009 when an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan led to him undergoing a double leg amputation.
Despite initial struggles, Gregg worked hard to regain his fitness and pursued opportunities to learn new sports.
He became interested in rowing after trying out for the Invictus Games in 2018.
Gregg and Lauren qualified for the 2024 Paris Paralympics whilst also becoming European and World Champions and setting the world’s best time in an undefeated season in the PR2 category.
Away from rowing, Gregg has worked as a mental health practitioner for an NHS veteran-specific service, ‘Op Courage’. As the Armed Forces Lived Experience Lead for Op Courage North, he has played a vital role in developing and improving coping strategies, increasing patient engagement and familiarity.
Gregg, who comes from Pendle in Lancashire, said:
“It was absolutely unreal to win a gold medal at my first, and potentially last, Games!”
Kerenza Bryson competing in the pistol shooting stage of the Modern Pentathlon in Paris
Kerenza Bryson during the equestrian showjumping stage of the Modern Pentathlon at the Paris Olympics
Kerenza Bryson during the fencing stage of the Modern Pentathlon at the Paris Olympics
At the Olympic Games in Paris that preceded the Paralympic Games, Second Lieutenant Kerenza Bryson, aged 25, competed in the Modern Pentathlon, finishing ninth in the final.
The modern pentathlon originated in the Army, made up of five sports - swimming, running, pistol shooting, fencing and showjumping – chosen to reflect skills that cavalry soldiers of the 19th century needed to possess.
Kerenza is an Army Reservist and Maritime Troop Commander with Plymouth-based 265 Port (Devon) Squadron, 165 Port and Maritime, Royal Logistic Corps.
She is from near Dartmoor in Devon and headed to France fresh from being crowned European champion.
Kerenza qualified as a doctor last year and plans to join the Army Medical Services as a full-time officer.
She said:
“My highlight of the Olympics has to be my semi-final show jumping round. I drew a fabulous horse and we went clear for a perfect round, which felt amazing. It was a brilliant start to the event, which set me up well for winning my semi-final and setting a new Olympic record.
“Sport has taught me so much that I carry across into military life, from the obvious physical fitness and mental resilience, through to leadership and learning to thrive under pressure."
We are so lucky that the Army recognises the value and power of sport, and I am really grateful to British Army Sport and my regiment, 165 Port and Maritime Regiment, for its support
Kerenza says that, now that the Paris Olympics are over, it is time for her to focus again on both her medical career as a doctor in the NHS and her Army Reserve career:
“I remain set on joining the Regular Army as a medical officer, so I will switch fire to working towards that for now.
“But I am still hungry for an Olympic medal, so I won't be taking my foot off the pedal anytime soon. Los Angeles 2028 is only four years away!”
Corporal Stephen Cox rowed for Zimbabwe in the Men’s Single Skulls in Paris where he finished fifth in Final E.
Steve fulfilled his Olympics dream after missing out on the Tokyo Olympics due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Without the Army I would never have made it to the Games, I feel very lucky and privileged to have had their support over the years. There are very few people that get to do the sport they love as a career and have the support I had
He joined the military 11 years ago and has combined his Army career with a rigorous training schedule that involves rowing up to 250 kilometres a week, supplemented by weightlifting and cycling to maintain peak physical condition.
Steve said:
“My highlight from Paris was a life goal becoming a reality.
“The most difficult part was not getting overwhelmed by emotions and just keeping the process simple around races. The Olympics can be a circus, I saw many athletes fall prey to it and had poor performances as a result.
Steve will start a new role with Aldershot-based 27 Regiment RLC next month.
He says:
“I’d like to give back to Army sport somehow in my time left in the military.”
British Army Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Roland Walker, said:
"Huge congratulations to all our serving and veteran athletes on their remarkable performances at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. Your courage, discipline, and commitment have led to this incredible achievement. You’ve made us all immensely proud!"