Visually Impaired judo player Ian Rose has clinched a Paralympic silver medal for Great Britain in the Men’s judo +100kg weight category.

The medal win for Ian (32), is an even greater achievement as the High Wycombe based judo player normally competes in the –90kg weight category.

An injury last year left him unable to qualify his normal spot at the Visually Impaired Judo World Championships in Quebec. However, when Great Britain were offered a wild card place in the +100kg category, Ian decided to take the challenge of facing the best heavy weight visually impaired judo players in the world.

Although heavier than normal through a structured weight management programme, Ian’s experience as a middleweight player had obvious advantages with him looking far more agile than his competitors allowing him to bring in quick quality moves and exhaust them early on.

In the preliminary round he looked superior winning his fight against Yuong Chiat Looi of Malaysia by the maximum ippon score after just 11 seconds.

The win took him through to the semi final where he met Akaev of Russia.  With a wazari (7 point score) already on the scoreboard, the final minute of the match brought victory for Ian following a third penalty against the Russian for passivity, which finished the contest.

Ian had to settle for silver after a close final saw him caught out by Ilham Zakiyev of Azerbaijan in the third minute by ippon.