THERE will be 33 Scottish athletes in the ParalympicsGB team in Rio competing across 12 different sports including boccia, cycling, powerlifting and swimming. Here's the names to look out for over the next fortnight.
ARCHERY
Name: Nathan MacQueen
Age: 25
Hometown: Polbeth, West Lothian
Sport: archery (compound open)
Nathan MacQueen was involved in a near-fatal motorbike accident aged 17 which left him paralysed from the waist down. Prior to that he played professional rugby for Glasgow Warriors and had represented Scotland at under-21 level as well as being part of the Scottish archery team.
His old archery coach encouraged him to return to the sport and MacQueen started competing internationally last year. He won silver at the 2016 European Para-Archery Championships.
ATHLETICS
Name: Jo Butterfield
Age: 37
Hometown: Glasgow
Sport: athletics (F32/51 club throw)
Jo Butterfield is reigning world and two-time European champion in the F32/51 club throw. The former Army civil servant underwent surgery to remove a tumour from her spine in January 2011. A complication led to her being paralysed from the chest down. Among Butterfield's raft of stellar achievements was setting a new club throw world record of 22.75m in June.
Scots to watch: Maria Lyle, sprinter from Dunbar (T35 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay); Libby Clegg, sprinter from Newcastleton (T11 100m and 200m); Samantha Kinghorn, wheelchair racer from Gordon, Scottish Borders (T53 100m, 400m and 800m); Derek Rae, T46 marathon runner from Kirkcaldy; Stefanie Reid, T44 long jumper from Burton-On-The-Wolds.
READ MORE: Final countdown as Samantha Kinghorn prepares for Rio debut
BOCCIA
Name: Scott McCowan
Age: 25
Hometown: Dundonald, Ayrshire
Sport: boccia (BC3 individual and pairs)
This will be a second Paralympics for Scott McCowan who is a world silver and European bronze medallist. Alongside Scott will be younger brother Jamie, 21, who also competes in the BC3 class. The siblings will be joined by their parents Gary and Linda who are ramp assistants.
Scots to watch: Joshua Rowe from Perth (individual and BC1/2 team); Stephen McGuire from Hamilton (BC4 individual and pairs); Kieran Steer from Crossgates, Fife (BC4 individual and pairs); Patrick Wilson from Cardrona, Scottish Borders (BC3 individual and pairs).
READ MORE: Scots family whose Paralympic dream is about to come true
CYCLING
Name: Neil Fachie
Age: 32
Hometown: Aberdeen
Sport: track cycling tandem B (kilo and sprint)
Rio marks a third Paralympics for 10-time world champion Neil Fachie who competed in athletics at Beijing 2008 before making the switch the cycling. The visually-impaired rider won gold in the tandem B kilo at London 2012 and silver in the tandem B sprint. He will be piloted by Pete Mitchell.
Scots to watch: Karen Darke, H1-2 hand cyclist from Inverness (time trial and road race); Hannah Dines, T2 trike rider from Glasgow (time trial and road race); and Craig MacLean, sighted tandem pilot from Grantown-on-Spey (kilo and sprint with James Ball).
FOOTBALL SEVEN-A-SIDE
Name: David Porcher
Age: 19
Hometown: Livingston, West Lothian
Sport: 7-a-side football (defender/left back)
David Porcher is set to make his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016. He has represented Scotland under-16s in non-disabled football and also played for Hibernian FC from under-12 to under-17 level. He was part of the team that won the East of Scotland Shield at under-17 level against Hearts two years in a row.
Scots to watch: Jonathan Paterson from Motherwell (midfielder/forward) and Martin Hickman from Lennoxtown (defender/midfielder).
JUDO
Name: Sam Ingram
Age: 31
Hometown: Edinburgh
Sport: judo (-90kg)
Sam Ingram will represent ParalympicsGB at a third consecutive Games. The visually-impaired judoka is a two-time Paralympic medallist and former European champion. Ratho-based Ingram is the most decorated athlete on the British Judo Paralympic programme.
PARATRIATHLON
Name: Alison Patrick
Age: 28
Hometown: Dunfermline
Sport: paratriathlon (PT5)
Alison Patrick switched to triathlon from athletics in 2013. She is visually impaired (less than 10% vision) and will race in the PT5 class with guide athlete Hazel Smith from Edinburgh. Patrick is a two-time world and European champion. She won the Rio Paralympic test event in 2015.
POWERLIFTING
Name: Micky Yule
Age: 37
Hometown: Musselburgh
Sport: powerlifting (-65kg)
A former staff sergeant in the Royal Engineers, Micky Yule was serving in Afghanistan in 2010 when, on a routine mission to clear improvised explosive devices (IEDs), one detonated beneath his foot. Yule lost both legs instantaneously. He has since undergone almost 50 surgeries.
Yule went on to represent Team Scotland in powerlifting at Glasgow 2014, became European champion last year and won gold at the Invictus Games in May.
READ MORE: Yule on hold as Paralympic action prepares to get under way
SWIMMING
Name: Andrew Mullen
Age: 19
Hometown: Glasgow
Sport: swimming (S5 50m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly)
Andrew Mullen is a seven-time European champion and seven-time world medallist. He made his international debut at 14 at the 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships in Berlin and went on to compete at London 2012. This is his second Paralympics.
Scots to watch: Stephen Clegg from Newcastleton, Scottish Borders (S13 100m backstroke, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle); Abby Kane from Largs (S13 100m backstroke, 400m freestyle, 50m freestyle); Scott Quin from Edinburgh (S14 100m breaststroke).
WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL
Name: Robyn Love
Age: 26
Hometown: Ayr
Sport: wheelchair basketball
Robin Love was inspired to get involved in wheelchair basketball after watching London 2012. She started playing in 2013 and earned an invitation to join the GB Women's Programme within her first year. Love won bronze at the 2015 European Championships.
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS
Name: Gordon Reid
Age: 24
Hometown: Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire
Sport: wheelchair tennis (singles and doubles)
Gordon Reid took up wheelchair tennis after developing a rare neurological condition called transverse myelitis in 2004. He has claimed four doubles and two singles Grand Slam titles to date.
Reid made Wimbledon history this summer by winning the first ever men's wheelchair singles tournament. He also won the men's wheelchair doubles title alongside partner Alfie Hewett.
WHEELCHAIR RUGBY
Name: Michael Kerr
Age: 33
Hometown: Glasgow
Sport: wheelchair rugby
Michael Kerr started training with Scottish Wildcats in 2001 and four years later was selected for the Great Britain team. He was vice-captain at London 2012, where the team finished fifth, and in 2014 was appointed captain for the national team. He won European gold last year.
The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games begin on Wednesday and run until September 18
READ MORE: Coach Ian Mirfin on Samantha Kinghorn's remarkable journey to the Rio 2016 Paralympics
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