Castro relishing ‘pressure and thrill’ of home World Cup

By Tim Norris | For the IPC

"Fencing at home only affects me positively,” Castro explained.” I like the pressure and the thrill.”

The Rio 2016 Paralympic bronze medallist won in Warsaw last year, his last victory on the circuit. A repeat performance this time round can help close the gap at the top of the sabre class B world rankings.

 “Looking at the results, the beginning of the season was bad for me, however I believe that I can improve because I haven’t reached optimum form yet,” the world No. 2 said.

“My preparations for 2018 were disrupted by health concerns around my spine towards the end of last year, while in May I had my wedding – both had an impact on my training! But I’m slowly building up my form again and I believe I will be ready for the main event – the European Championships [in September].”

Castro competed at World Cups earlier this year in Italy and Hungary, finishing third in both. But with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics on the horizon, he is looking to move up the podium.

“I wouldn’t like to talk about plans for Tokyo as there are a lot of qualifiers before then. But somewhere in my head I have a plan to improve upon the result in Rio.”

The IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in Warsaw takes place from 5-9 July. It is swiftly followed by the 2018 IWAS Wheelchair Fencing U17/U23 World Championships, also in Warsaw, from 10-14 July.