Bath's wheelchair fencers ready for Rio

Team Bath's wheelchair fencers Piers Gilliver, Dmitri Coutya and Gemma Collis are flying out to Rio today (Monday) ahead of the Paralympics and are in peak condition.

Gilliver and Coutya, ranked number one and two respectively in their divisions, should be at the top of their game in Brazil's capital after a final training session at the University of Bath.

Since being based at the University, Gulliver has won a host of World Cup, World Championships and European Championships medals in the space of just 18 months.

"It is a great environment to work in," said Gilliver.

"I get to train with the pentathletes in the fencing salle and also use the physio and sports science services, as well as the gym. It is really helpful to have everything on one site.

"I am really excited about Rio. I am currently ranked number one in the world so the aim has to be the gold medal. It has been my dream for such a long time and it is so exciting that I am this close to having a shot at achieving it."

Coutya qualified for the Rio games ranked number two in the B category and cannot wait for the Paralympics to get underway.

"Preparations have been going really well," he revealed.

"I am buzzing about having the chance to compete on the biggest stage of all."

Collis competed at the London Olympics four years ago and thought she had missed out this time around, but was called up two weeks ago following the banning of Russian athletes.

She admitted: "These last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. Fortunately I was still in training when I got the call so I am not starting again from scratch.

"The guys are absolutely in peak form but I am catching them up. Having been to a Paralympic Games before and having that experience to draw on has really helped me with my preparations."

Collis, Coutya and Gulliver will be competing in their respective epee competitions on Tuesday, September 13.

The pool stages start at 1pm BST and the gold-medal matches get going at 8:30pm.

Coutya and Gulliver will also contest the foil events on Wednesday, September 14.