James' Profile

A multiple world champion across the tandem sprint events, James Ball has built a strong partnership with fellow Welshman and pilot Steffan Lloyd, which delivered gold medal success at their first Paralympic Games together last summer in Paris.

Born in Ponthir in Gwent, Ball started his sporting career as a swimmer, before moving to athletics. The visually-impaired athlete was in line to earn selection in track and field for ParalympicsGB at London 2012 before a hamstring injury brought an untimely end to his aspirations.

On his journey back to full fitness, Ball took part in turbo testing arranged by British Cycling, and his potential on a bike was discovered. Paired with experienced pilot Craig McLean, Ball claimed a world bronze medal on his international debut in 2016, and finished fifth at his first Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in the 1km time-trial.

The following year saw him achieve great success in a new partnership with Matt Rotherham, winning two world titles in Los Angeles in both the 1km time-trial and the sprint events.

Further medals followed at the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, with a 1km time-trial silver and sprint bronze. From there, Ball went on to represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, where he won silvers in his two events alongside pilot Pete Mitchell. By 2019, Ball picked up the third world title of his career, winning the 1km time-trial with Mitchell.

In 2020, Ball was teamed up with pilot Lewis Stewart, and the partnership got off to a hugely promising start, with another world title in the sprint, and a silver in the 1km time-trial.

Selection for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games followed and, despite the interruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ball and Stewart stormed to their first Paralympic medal, winning silver in the 1km time-trial in 2021.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Ball was paired up with Rotherham in the sprint events, winning the sprint gold and a silver in the 1km time-trial.

Paired with new pilot Steffan Lloyd, Ball went on to take another world title at the championships in Paris later that year, winning gold in the mixed sprint event alongside Libby Clegg and Georgia Holt, and also taking a silver in the 1km time-trial and a bronze in the sprint.

The following year saw a home world championships come to Glasgow, and at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Ball and Lloyd secured a silver in the 1km time-trial.

At the start of 2024, Ball and Lloyd overcame home rivals Neil Fachie and Rotherham at the British National Track Championships in February to take the gold in the men’s sprint.

At the UCI Para-cycling World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, the pair continued their success with another 1km time-trial silver, just being edged out by Fachie and Rotherham in a photo finish. The pair also claimed a bronze in the sprint to add to their palmares.

This summer in Paris will be Ball’s third outing at the Paralympic Games and, with his partner Lloyd making his debut, the pair will have nothing to lose as they go for glory.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games saw the British tandem pairs go head-to-head once again on the biggest stage in Paralympic sport as they lined up to contest the men’s B 1km time-trial. 

Ball and pilot Lloyd got off to a very strong start in qualifying, riding the second fastest time of 59.793, just 0.313 off the German pairing of Thomas Ulbricht and pilot Robert Foerstemann.

In the final, Fachie and Rotherham topped the table with a time of 59.312, before Ball and Lloyd followed with a flawless performance of 58.964 seconds, which catapulted them to the top of the leaderboard.  After a tense few moments waiting to see what the German pair could deliver, it was delight for Ball and Lloyd as they took their first Paralympic title together.

                                        

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