SHAH RASHID is ready to put in the hard yards to book his place at the LA 2028 Paralympics after making his return to competition at the Para Fencing European Championships in Cardiff.

The Coventry star missed much of the past year with a blood clot and had to adapt his training but returned to action on home soil.

The 41-year-old did not come away with the results he had dreamed of, finishing 17th in sabre and 13th in another event but he knows it is all part of the process as he plots the next part of his return.

Rashid spent part of his time sidelined studying the sport and himself in detail and believes he has gained vital knowledge from his time competing in Cardiff.

He hopes he can now put that to good use and push on in his pursuit of a ticket to LA 2028.

Rashid said: “My initial goal was simply to put into practice the process and performance plan I’d built over the previous seven months.

“During that time I wasn’t just trying to get healthy enough to fence again. I was breaking down the sport to understand it better, breaking down performance to understand it better, and looking at aspects of wheelchair fencing that not many people examine, such as body position and movement.

After putting all those documents together and really understanding my plan, the goal here was simply to execute the process.

“At the end of each day I reassess. I’ve made notes, and if I’m really not feeling it, I’ll take my phone out and record myself talking through what went well, what didn’t go well, where I was psychologically, where I was during matches, and so on.

“Ultimately, I tested what I wanted to test. I stuck to what I needed to do and kept checking in with myself throughout the day. The result wasn’t what I wanted, but I’ve got the data and information I need to move forward.”

Rashid was one of over 100 fencers from 15 countries in action in Cardiff, which welcomed the return of para-fencing after hosting a World Cup event in 2024.

Rashid added: “Ultimately, I’m happy to be back fencing again,” he reflected. “Initially, coming back after such a long break felt strange.

“I’ve known some of these people for years. I’ve competed against them for years. Some have retired and new people have come in.

“When I first arrived, I honestly thought, ‘Do I really want to go through all this again?’

“Then I started getting into the swing of it and feeling that competition feeling again. That’s the only place you get that feeling.

“Now that it’s over, I’ll go back and reflect on what needs fixing and adjusting.”

He will need to find plenty of that enjoyment over the next 18 months as he targets a place at the LA 2028 Paralympics but the 41-has prepared himself to grind it out in order to realise his dreams.

Rashid said: “Having come back and done my first competition, felt what it feels like again, and looked at where I’ve improved and where I still have deficiencies, now it’s time to lock in for the next 18 months.

“Life is going to be tough. You try to balance as much as you can, but you need a certain obsessive personality to keep going.

“Sometimes it can be depressing because you’re constantly asking yourself how you can get better.

“Every now and then your teammates remind you that you’re doing okay. To come back and finish around 14th isn’t too bad.

“Everybody here is training full-time. They all prepared properly for this competition. I had one sparring session, dealt with everything else that was going on, and then came here.

“The next 18 months are going to be a grind. But if LA is the goal, that’s what has to happen.”

The Para Fencing European Championships, supported by funding from UK Sport through The National Lottery, and Welsh Government, was held in Cardiff on the 6th-11th October 2026, seeing athletes from across Europe compete in the first qualification event for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games