David Phillipson has been an elite wheelchair tennis player, races a Porsche car in his spare time and is about to compete at his second Paralympics as a Paracanoe athlete.

Somewhat a high achiever. Which would make some of the kids who used to bully him at school green with envy.

“Dangerous Dave” picked up a quota for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games at what we call ‘the last chance saloon’, the 2024 ICF Paracanoe World Championships in Szeged in May.

It was an enormous relief for Phillipson, who missed the quota at last year’s World Championships when he made a small mistake in his race. But that disappointment was nothing compared to how gutted he felt after Tokyo 2020.

Phillipson came to Paracanoe after going to three Paralympics as a wheelchair tennis athlete. He had high hopes, but as he told our Path to Paris podcast, he didn’t get the result he wanted.

The 35-year-old says he is loving competing at the top level, and wants to inspire even those who bullied him at school to aim higher.

Listen to our chat with Phillipson here.