A Scottish golfer is hoping to inspire the next generation of deaf athletes at the 100th anniversary of the Deaflympics in Tokyo.
Robbie Bowie-Cameron is hoping to strike gold for Team GB at the Games, which kick off in the Japanese capital this weekend.
The 38-year-old, from Glasgow, began experiencing hearing loss at the age of 16, and he is now classified as profoundly deaf.
After coming through a tough qualification process to make the team, he is now ready to show that having a disability doesn’t stop you reaching the very top.
He said: “I’m a wee bit nervous, but really excited. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, not many people get to do this type of thing, so I feel incredibly honoured to represent Great Britain, so I’m just enjoying it and making the most of it.
“My late teens to my early twenties was a challenging period in terms of processing what was happening to me, so I looked towards sport and the community that sport provides to really turn that into a positive.
“It was at that point that I fully embraced my hearing loss and looked for positive opportunities, that things started to happen, and it has been great.”
Bowie-Cameron has received funding from the Civil Service Sports Union, giving him the best chance to be fighting fit for his trip to Tokyo, and he now hopes he can inspire others in a similar position.
He said: “Sport is a really powerful way for people to manage deafness or disability, and I think from the Deaflympics, for example, we should be having role models that people can look up to and who can hopefully inspire the next generation to come and do the same thing in four years, or eight years’ time.”
The Deaflympics has been running every four years since 1924, and will celebrate its 100th anniversary throughout November.
It begins on Saturday and will run for 11 days, before the closing ceremony on Wednesday, November 26.
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