Chris Adcock
DOB: 27/4/89 Event: Badminton (Doubles and mixed) Medals: World Silver (W/Imogen Bankier) Flag: GBR
By Emma Bird
Last Updated: 25/07/12 4:28pm
Until this summer, Chris Adcock was relatively unknown - until he became a World Silver medallist.
The 22-year-old Nottingham badminton star began playing the sport when he was just three, after watching his older brothers playing at their local club.
His love for the sport continued to grow and he first represented England in 2008, at the Thomas Cup in Holland.
He accrued 13 National Junior Titles, making him the most successful junior ever. He has been part of Badminton England's funding programme since he was 11, expressing the long and determined road he had to travel to reach the podium at the World Championships at Wembley last month.
In the run-up to this year's Championships, Adcock secured a Team Bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi as well as a European Mixed Teams Championships Bronze earlier this year.
His spectacular silver medal winning performance with Scotland's Imogen Bankier, highlighted developments in a sport which has seen its funding cut by UK Sport with less than a year to go until the Olympic Games.
Adcock hopes that the pair's success will prove how far British badminton has come and safeguard its future in this country.