Image caption, Ben Pritchard was a cyclist and triathlete before a 2016 cycling crash left him paralysed from the ribcage down ByGeorge Rees-JulianBBC Sport Wales Published 5 minutes ago Welsh Para-rower Ben Pritchard retained his PR1 men's single sculls world title at the Rowing World Championships in Amsterdam.
Pritchard, from Mumbles near Swansea, crossed the line in eight minutes and 50.46 seconds to set a new record at the World Championships.
The 34-year-old finished just shy of the eight minutes and 40.38 seconds world record time he set at the 2025 European Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
After a strong start, Italian Giacomo Perini and Australian Erik Horrie closed the gap on Pritchard towards the 500m mark before the Welshman stretched his lead, eventually winning by 6.81 seconds.
Pritchard named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2025 Published 12 December 2025 Pritchard is one of para-rowing's leading forces.
Since winning Paralympic gold in 2024, he has set multiple world records and added European and world titles to his list of accolades.
The 2025 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year award winner and his rivals had to deal with adversity during the championships in the Netherlands, with their semi-final delayed due to thunderstorms, reducing recovery windows.
Pritchard's second world championship win came weeks after claiming the 2026 European title in Varese, Italy, and having suffered an injury earlier this month.
A 'story of calamities' After retaining his global title, Pritchard told World Rowing it had been a "story of calamities" following Friday's thunderstorms and the issues he faced in the race.
He also noted his rivals are "getting faster off the first 500".
Pritchard added: "But you've just got to try and back yourself, back all the training that you do.
