The driving force behind the Cardiff 2026 Para Fencing European Championships hailed a full circle moment 15 years after masterminding the event last time it was in the UK.
John Timms is event director for the continental showpiece in the Welsh capital this week, the first time it has been hosted on British soil since in Sheffield back in 2011.
And Timms was also in charge when the competition – both para and standing – came to south Yorkshire a decade and a half ago, organising the event in his home city as part of the wide-ranging work he undertakes with multiple national governing bodies.
Timms, whose company MLS Contracts also work with NGBs including Table Tennis England and Paddle UK, is loving life in Cardiff and praised all those involved for making it such a special event.
“I’m really excited to be working with British Fencing to do this,” he said.
“This is my second international fencing event - I actually organised a European Championships, standing and para, in 2011 in Sheffield.
“That was a really good experience, and it's great to be back into it.
“What's really good is the level of expertise that's within the sport of fencing here in Britain. We've got referees who have decades of experience and have supported Paralympic Games in London, for example, all the way through to the teams of volunteers at piste side, some of them new to the sport, who have been trained up and you can see them working like Formula One pit teams to help the athletes get ready for action.
“They are all really good people, and they've brought all their knowledge to the fore.
“We bring all that together and provide logistics, guidance and governance support around the higher levels to make sure things are in place and managed.
“It’s great to come together with the support of the stakeholders and the partners that come into that.
“We provide all the ingredients and it's that bit of magic from the volunteers and the athletes at the end that brings it together - we're delivering an amazing championships.”
This year’s event is being held at the Sport Wales National Centre, in the shadow of Sophia Gardens in the heart of the Welsh capital.
World Abilitysport awarded the hosting of the event to British Fencing, in partnership with UK Sport, supported by funding from The National Lottery and the Welsh Government.
The event comes after the successful hosting of a World Cup event in the city two years ago with Disability Sport Wales, the lead organisation for sport and physical activity for disabled people in Wales, leading the team of over almost 100 volunteers.
Timms added: “It’s amazing to bring a major fencing event back to the UK, just two years after the World Cup event held here in Cardiff.
“It’s a brilliant thing to be involved with and an opportunity to do this is amazing.
“It’s a great event and awesome people to work with – everyone has come around to support.
“All the partners, from the British Fencing staff, the Welsh Government to Sport Wales have really helped us to get all that preparation and planning in place.
“If you don't have those partners, stakeholders, planning and governance structures, it's much harder to deliver.
“It’s been great so far. We've had great success from everyone involved – and I’m really looking forward to the weekend.”
British Fencing's Charitable Fund actively supports the development of fencing and aims to diversify participation by providing financial and other support to encourage and nurture the talent of the future. Find out more and support this here
Share