From Colne Valley Leisure Centre to Rio – it’s been a long road to glory for Marcus Ellis.
The 26-year-old has created history by being part of the first British men’s doubles partneship to reach the Olympic semi-finals.
But his journey – supported by parents John and Sheila and his 30-year-old brother James – has involved some tough times and big decisions.
Sheila explained: “John played badminton and I played netball and, so that we could continue that social side of our lives after the lads arrived, John’s dad Phillip used to look after them for us.
“Unfortunately, Phillip died very suddenly so I ended up taking James with me to matches – he didn’t like it because he’s not really sporty – and John took Marcus to the badminton club down at Colne Valley.
“Of course, even though he was only seven, when he was there he picked up a racket, started to play a bit and it all went on from there – so we’ve always said Marcus might never have played badminton but for those sad initial circumstances; it was fate really.”
A pupil at Clough Head Junior School and Colne Valley High – where he got excellent support from the teaching staffs – Ellis spent six months at New College before deciding, at just 17, to forget about A levels and move away from home to commit totally to the National Badminton Centre at Milton Keynes.
“Marcus was spotted very early by Graham and Linda Howe, who ran a badminton coaching session at Newsome, so we used to run him over there,” added Sheila.
“In a very short space of time, it was thought he could progress again and he went to Jenny Drake for coaching in Leeds three times a week.
“He progressed very quickly and needed the understanding of his schools to play all the tournaments, and it was his decision to go full-time with badminton.
“We wondered about exams and maybe university and the like, but it was something he wanted to do and he was always determined to give it his all – so we believed he could make it a success.”
