Boccia athlete Will Arnott has died at the age of 25, ParalympicsGB and Boccia UK have announced.
The BC3 boccia player made his Paralympics debut in Paris this summer in the singles and pairs events.
“Will was loved all around the world and had a positive impact on people wherever he went,” said coach Glynn Tromans., external
“I started working with him in 2018, alongside his former coach Barry Bowden. It was clear from the beginning that Will was a special human being and was going to be a great player.
“He was a tough sportsman and a fierce competitor, so many people will be so sad at this news because fundamentally he was not just a great player, he was a great guy. He will be truly missed.”
Arnott, from Reading, was a former pupil of Treloar’s School in Hampshire and by the end of the 2024 season was placed seventh in the world boccia rankings.
His first major appearance in a Great Britain shirt was at the 2022 World Championships in Rio, where he made it to the quarter-final stage in the BC3 pairs.
Boccia UK, the national federation, said Arnott would “be remembered as a first-class athlete and a great team-mate who will be missed by all of us”.
ParalympicsGB said: “Our thoughts are with his family, friends and team-mates at this desperately sad time.”