Meet the Scots taking part in the Paralympic Games in Paris

The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games takes place in Paris on Wednesday and there are plenty of Scots on the hunt for medals in the French capital.

Up to 4,400 athletes are due to parade along the Champs-Elysees to Place de Concorde in front of an estimated 65,000 spectators.

Competition starts on Thursday, with medals up for grabs in track cycling, swimming, taekwondo and table tennis, and continues until the closing ceremony on Sunday, September 8.

The bar has been set high as Team GB won an impressive haul of 124 medals at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.

STV Sport takes a look at the Scottish competitors hoping for success in Paris.

Neil Fachie

Paralympic cycling champion Neil Fachie is looking to add to his already impressive medals haul when he competes at his fifth Paralympic Games.

Fachie, who suffers from the congenital eye condition retinitis pigmentosa, has two Paralympic gold and two Paralympic silver medals to his name.

He and pilot Matt Rotherham are being strongly backed to the top the podium once again in Paris.

Fachie has the added challenge that his wife Lora is also a Paralympian and will compete alongside him in Paris.

The couple have a one-year-old son and have been trying to fit parenting duties in alongside training.

Fachie said: “Between the two of us, trying to train and childcare being as expensive as it is, we can’t afford to have him in nursery five days a week.

“We’ve got a nice system where he’s in a few times where we can come and train at the velodrome and then other days we are having to tag team essentially. Someone is on the bike where the other one does parent duty and then we swap over. It works pretty well.

“The thing I’ve noticed most is trying to recover when a very determined little man expects you to be jumping on a trampoline for three hours, it’s quite hard work.

“But equally, that has perhaps made me fitter than I have ever been because I’ve never spent so much time on a trampoline. It’s worth the peace and quiet to do it. It’s different but I enjoy it as well.”

Gordon Reid

Wheelchair tennis player Gordon Reid is another competitor who is no stranger to Paralympic success, having won singles gold in Rio, and a doubles silver and singles bronze in Tokyo.

Alongside Englishman Alfie Hewett, the pair have become the most dominant doubles partnership in modern-day tennis, racking up 25 grand slam doubles titles in total, including all three this year.

Samantha Kinghorn

Wheelchair racer Samantha Kinghorn from Melrose will compete in the T53 100m, 400m, 800m and 4x100m relay in Paris.

She claimed her first Paralympic medals with bronze in the T53 100m and silver in the 400m at the Tokyo Games.

Samantha, who was paralysed after an accident on a family farm, is among the biggest female contingent ever fielded by Great Britain at a Paralympics.

Nathan Macqueen

Nathan Macqueen rose to the top of the rankings last year as a world silver medallist and a double European champion in the men’s individual and team compound.

He previously played rugby for Glasgow Warriors at under-18 level before being involved in a serious motorbike accident when he was 17.

Before his accident Macqueen was part of Scotland’s archery team. As part of his recovery from his spinal injury, Nathan tried powerlifting and wheelchair basketball before deciding to focus on shooting arrows at a target.

He made his international debut a few months before being selected for Rio 2016, where he finished ninth.

Stephen Clegg

Multiple Paralympic medallist Stephen Clegg is among the returning Paralympians named in Team GB’s 26-strong swimming squad.

He made his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 where he recorded his best result in the final of the 100m backstroke S12, finishing in 5th place.

In the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Clegg became a triple Paralympic medallist winning silver in the S12 100m butterfly final and two bronze medals in the 100m freestyle and backstroke finals.

He’ll be joned in the pool by his fellow Scots, Toni Shaw, Louis Lawlor and Faye Rogers.

The Scottish contingent in Paris is completed by boccia players Patrick Wilson, Kayleigh Haggo and Stephen McGuire, para-triathletes Alison Peasgood and Brooke Gillies, para-canoeist Hope Gordon, table tennis player Martin Perry and wheelchair basketball player, Robyn Love.