They are currently being trained up after being discovered in a talent search by Channel 4, the official UK broadcaster for the 2012 Paralympics.

Arthur Vaughan Williams, an ex-Royal Marine and wheelchair racer from Worcestershire, sports journalist Alex Brooker from Leeds and Daraine Mulvihill, a researcher for broadcaster RTE from Dublin, are among the winners.

There is also former Paralympic swimmer Rachael Latham from Wigan. wheelchair basketball players Martin Dougan, a carpenter from Glasgow, and Liam Holt, a trainee researcher on That Paralympic Show from Cardiff, are also among the new faces.

They make their on screen Channel 4 debut at this week's BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

Channel 4 is spending £500,000 ($812,000) to train disabled presenting talent in order to reach its target of 50 per cent disabled on screen talent during the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The company launched its quest to find the best new disabled sports reporters and commentators online in September.

Hundreds of entries were whittled down to a 12-strong shortlist who were sent on a five-day bootcamp to help test their skills at the National Film & Television School.

All six are currently undergoing intense training including a series of work placements with broadcasters and sports production companies including BBC, ITV, Sky, Five, IMG, Sunset+Vine, North One, ESPN and Perform.


Brooker, 27, a self-confessed football fanatic who works for the Press Association, said everything has "just gone crazy" since December when he was told he had won.

He is finishing a three-month Channel 4-funded placement with ITV Sport and said he has learned "a lot" including everything from presenting and reporting to styling.

"I am determined to do a very good job next week [at the BT Paralympic World Cup]," he said.

He has a below right knee prothesis and a hand and arm disability.

"I try not to be bogged down by it," he said.

"People do not even notice that I have an artificial leg and it is something I do not think about all the time, except when I have to put my leg on in the morning.

"No two disabilities are alike and maybe the athletes might find it easier, or a little bit interesting to talk to someone like me."


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