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- Tributes Paid To Para Sport Coach And Mentor, Anthony Hughes
By David Williams
Tributes have been paid to Anthony Hughes, the coach who propelled a number of Welsh para stars to international success.
Hughes has died suddenly at the age of 63 after a hugely successful career which marked him out as one of world’s leading identifiers and enablers in disabled sport.
Hughes worked with the likes of Aled Sion Davies, Josie Pearson and Hollie Arnold – guiding them to Paralympic gold medals.
He also had a renowned talent for spotting potential in athletes who had yet to take up competitive para sport.
Fiona Reed, chief executive of Disability Sport Wales, said: “He was really committed to inclusive and para sport in Wales and was absolutely determined to make sure that Wales led the rest of the world in inclusive sport and the opportunities it provided to para and disabled athletes.
Announcement of the passing of Anthony Hughes MBE, Friday 30th December 2022 pic.twitter.com/rIqgVI1xC5
— Disability Sport Wales (@dsw_news) January 2, 2023
“He saw the potential in people in all situations. We won’t ever see the likes of Ant again in sport.”
A former athlete, Hughes was Disability Sport Wales’ performance manager and is credited with making Wales a leading force in para sport.
As an athlete, he competed in the shot put and javelin at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona.
He had previously won silver at the 1990 IPC World Championships for the shot and in 1994 held the world record in the event.
Hughes’ attention then turned to developing new talent and he joined Disability Sport Wales in 1999.
He developed a system that saw the number of Welsh Paralympians rocket from 17 in Sydney 2000 to 38 by London 2012, and more recently 21 in Tokyo 2020 – with 14 medals won in Japan.
Hughes was named Sport Wales Coach of the Year in 2011, inducted into the UK Coaching Hall of Fame in 2012 and was awarded an MBE for services to sport in 2013.
