WHEELCHAIR tennis player Lucy Shuker and wheelchair basketball player Terry Bywater have been selected as ParalympicsGB’s flagbearers for the opening ceremony this evening.

Shuker hopes to follow in the footsteps of Tom Daley by being a beacon of hope for the LGBTQ+ community in Paris. Diver Daley last month shared a similar responsibility with rower Helen Glover for Team GB at the launch of the Olympics.

While her parents have remained at home due to health issues, Shuker’s partner Amy will be among the spectators in France.

“I want the world to be in a position where people can love who they want to love and that be accepted,” said Shuker.

“To love someone, that is special, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the same sex or the opposing sex.

“But I also understand where we are in this world where there are still countries and places where it’s forbidden, or it’s against the law, you could be jailed, or people lose their lives as a result of it.

“To be openly supportive, I am happy to be that, to represent because my partner is a woman and they love me for who I am, no matter my disability or not, and that’s really special.

“If we can inspire other people to feel safe and to come out and to talk and to be openly themselves [that is a positive thing].

“There are so many on ParalympicsGB that are part of the LGBTQ+ community and openly talk about it and there are people who won’t openly talk about it.

“I want people to accept people for who they are, for who they love; as long as we’re nice people, that to me is the core values that should be respected.”

Shuker made history alongside her former doubles partner Jordanne Whiley when they became the first women to win a medal for Great Britain in their sport by claiming bronze at London 2012.

The pair also achieved third place on the podium at Rio 2016 before securing silver at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago.

Redcar-born Bywater is a four-time bronze medallist — in 2004, 2008, 2016 and 2021 — and preparing to compete at the seventh Games of his career following his debut at Sydney in 2000.

The opening ceremony of Paris’s maiden Paralympic Games takes place tonight, where up to 4,400 athletes are due to parade along the Champs-Elysees to Place de Concorde in front of an estimated 65,000 spectators.

Competition starts tomorrow, with medals up for grabs in track cycling, swimming, taekwondo and table tennis, and continues until the closing ceremony on Sunday September 8.

Following Whiley’s retirement, Shuker will partner 21-year-old Games newcomer Abbie Breakwell in the French capital — beginning on Friday at Roland Garros — and will also enter the women’s singles draw.

The 44-year-old, from Fleet, Hampshire, was paralysed from the chest down following a motorbike crash in 2001 and made her Paralympic debut seven years later in Beijing.

“To have that honour to lead ParalympicsGB out is incredible and something that I never thought I would do,” she said.

“To qualify for my first Paralympics in Beijing was an achievement in itself, but to come to my fifth Paralympics and now be a flagbearer is a real dream come true.

“Leading the parade down the Champs-Elysees and Place de la Concorde is going to be really different — eyes will be on me, but also the rest of ParalympicsGB.

“We are a big team and to be at the front of that is insane, incredible and an honour.”

Bywater and his team-mates take on Germany in their opening Group A fixture tomorrow morning before meeting Canada and hosts France on Saturday and Monday respectively.

The 41-year-old was born without a tibia and a fibula in his left leg, which was amputated when he was two.

“It’s a dream come true, I feel quite emotional,” he said. “Carrying the [flag], it hasn’t sunk in — I’m just super, super proud.

“This is not just about me, this is for the 215 athletes that are here, all the staff, my family, my wife, my son, my family that have passed away that always followed me — I’ll be doing it for everyone.”

Games veterans Shuker and Bywater were selected to be flagbearers following an athlete vote among GB’s 215-strong squad.

Swimmer Ellie Simmonds and archer John Stubbs performed the roles at Tokyo 2020 before boccia champion David Smith took on the responsibility for the closing ceremony.