Contents

• Early life
• Life as a Paralympic athlete
• Retirement as a Paralympic athlete
• Achievements and awards

Simon Munn represented Great Britain in wheelchair basketball at an astonishing seven Paralympics, from the Barcelona 1992 to the Rio 2016 Summer Games.

Andy Blake (right) with Simon Munn at the Athens 2004 Paralympics Great Britain v Italy ©Getty Images

Early Life

Simon Munn was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in 1968. In his teenage years he became a talented football player and enjoyed spending time with friends. At 21 years old, Simon lost his leg in a railway accident. After walking home from a night out at the pub, he tripped on the railway track and the upcoming train was unable to stop. Luckily, he was spotted by passing cars and rushed to the hospital in time. 

During his rehabilitation process, in the early 1990s, Simon’s hospital physio introduced him to wheelchair basketball and he quickly fell in love with it.

Simon about his first time watching wheelchair basketball:

I didn’t class myself as disabled. I wasn’t interested in some game for disabled people. But I saw guys knocked out of their wheelchairs as they fought for the ball. Halfway through I had stopped seeing the wheelchairs. I just saw the sport and I knew it was for me. I fell in love with it.

Life as a Paralympic Athlete

Soon after his introduction to wheelchair basketball Simon started training which was much more intense than he expected. 

Training can be more intense than for able-bodied athletes. They can do one day working on their top half, then the next work on their bottom half. With wheelchair athletes it’s all upper body, so any rest is crucial.

He played for clubs including Super League Club MK Aces, Tameside Owls and London Club Capital City, classified as a 4 point player which includes players with reduced functioning in one or both of their lower limbs. 

Simon represented Great Britain at an astonishing seven Paralympic Games. He has been an integral part of the wheelchair basketball team at the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Winning a silver medal in Atlanta and bronze medals in Sydney, Athens and Rio. In addition to his Olympic medals, Simon won two silver medals at the World Championships and 11 European Medals, four of which were gold.

His wheelchair basketball career led to him travelling the world for Great Britain and resulted in him playing in both Britain and Italy, winning national honours in both countries. In addition to the team successes, Simon has captained the GB men’s team and led the team to the 2011 European Championships title.

Retirement as a Paralympic athlete

Despite his plans to retire after the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, Simon competed in his seventh Paralympic in Rio. The father of two planned to dedicate more of his time to his family after retiring from the international scene and continues to be involved in the promotion of wheelchair basketball. He also continues to inspire and motivate people and aims to help them realise their potential.

Achievements and awards

Simon Munn centre with, left to right, Peter Norfolk, Jane Blackburn, WheelPower Patron Rosie Vestey, and WheelPower Chairman Kevan Baker. Image courtesy of WheelPower 2017.

After one of the most impressive and long sporting careers Simon was introduced into the Stoke Mandeville Hall of Fame in 2017 and only shortly after, on the 8th June 2018, he received an MBE for his impressive career.

The Chair of British Wheelchair Basketball, Paul Hudson celebrated him:

I can think of no more deserving athlete than Simon to be the recipient of an MBE for services to wheelchair basketball. This is an athlete who came to our sport as an adult and dedicated his life to representing his country on international wheelchair basketball courts.

References

• https://britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk/2018/06/simon-munn-recognised-in-queens-birthday-honours/ (last accessed 18.5.21, 16:00)
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110927041744/http://www.paralympics.org.uk/show_feature.asp?itemid=2159&itemTitle=Munn+selected+for+fifth+Paralympics&section=0001000100060003 (last accessed 18.5.21, 16:10)
• https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/999777/ill-win-gold-for-this-lot-and-the-woman-who-saved-my-life/ (last accessed 19.5.21, 10:02)
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/33451246.amp (last accessed 19.5.21, 10:30)
• https://twitter.com/SimonMunn08/media?lang=en (Last accessed 19.5.21, 10:25)
• http://inspiredathletes.co.uk/portfolio/simon-munn/https://www.zimbio.com/photos/Simon+Munn/CEVQMUQBTbM/Paralympics+Day+1+Wheelchair+Basketball