ROCHDALE'S three-time Para- lympic Games judo champion Simon Jackson is hoping that recent training camps in Japan will help him claim his fourth gold at the Paralympics, which opened in Athens today.

The 32-year-old, who competes in the under-73kg division, begins his bid for glory on Sunday.

Jackson was Paralympic champion in Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, and Atlanta in 1996, and came away with a bronze from Sydney four years ago.

"Going into Athens, my aim is to do better than the bronze I won last time round," said Jackson.

"I've been training hard for this with several trips to Japan, where we train for six hours a day, and sleep on the training room floor at night. It's hard but we've done it to get the best possible practice."

Manchester's Simon Munn, who captained the men's wheelchair basketball team in Sydney, competes in his fourth Games. He is joined in the 12-man squad by three Oldham Owls teammates - Pete Finbow, Kevin Hayes and Fred Howley - and by Wigan's Jon Pollock.

The team finished fourth at the Sydney Games, but aim to go at least one better this time around, having won world silver and European bronze medals since 2000.

Manchester's world champion swimmer Sascha Kindred travels to Athens for his third Paralympics, aiming to add to his Sydney 200m medley and 100m breaststroke golds, when he set two Paralympic Games records in the process.

Kindred's Stretford team-mates Nyree Lewis and Sarah Bailey, along with Stockport swimmer Matt Walker and Manchester's Marc Woods, will also be in action at the Olympic Aquatic Centre.

Bailey set two world records on her way to winning two golds in Sydney, and also came away with three silver and two bronze medals.

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