'Proudest day of my life' (From Western Telegraph)

'Proudest day of my life'

1:00pm Tuesday 4th September 2012 in Sport By Gordon Thomas

Jacob Thomas' mother Caroline spoke of her delight at watching her son compete for Great Britain in Boccia at the London 2012 Paralympics.

"This is definitely the proudest day of my life, I'm so excited," said Caroline before the event on Sunday.

"We've been waiting for this day for such a long time and now it's finally here. I can't wait to see Jacob and Mike (husband) come out on court."

Jacob, who lives in Bethesda, and there was an army of fans at the ExCel Arena to cheer him on when they took on Greece in the opening game. Supporters from Clynderwen travelled to London wearing specially printed T-shirts with the words emblazoned 'GO JACOB GO'.

His former Learning Support Assistant at Brynconin Primary School, Jayne Thomas, was also there."I've known Jacob for at least 15 years. I always knew that one day he would do something amazing in sport."

The atmosphere in the arena was electrifying and finally Jacob's dream of competing at the Paralympics came true, entering the arena to rapturous applause.

It didn't go all to plan as Team GB, consisting of Jess Hunter, Jacob Thomas and Scott McCowan lost 5-0 to Greece in their opening Mixed Pairs BC3 game. The Greeks had impressive world number one Grigorios Polychronidis in their ranks, and he's Jacob's hero.

At the end of the game Jacob spoke to Polychronidis and it was a 'special moment' for the 17-year-old. Caroline spoke to Telegraph Sport shortly after that defeat. "He won't be happy they lost. He's really competitive. It was fantastic to see them wearing the smart GB kit.

"I felt so nervous and my emotions were all over the place, but I am thrilled that he has finally reached his goal."

Sister Polly said: "He's the best brother in the world and I think he's brilliant."