Kent’s Ben Quilter snapped the cruciate ligament and ruptured the medial ligaments in his knee seven weeks ago before on Thursday night he completing a remarkable recovery by winning bronze in the men’s under-60kg judo.

Quilter, the 30 year-old visually impaired jukoka, admitted he doubted whether he would make the Games and had almost withdrawn after losing his opening contest at the Excel Centre.

But he rallied with emphatic wins in his repechage bouts to set up his triumph by ippon in the bronze-medal match against Japan’s Takaaki Hirai.

Quilter, who finished fifth at the Beijing Paralympics, said: “I wanted to go home. I was happy to leave this morning, but it has been such a long journey back.

“Seven weeks ago, I snapped the cruciate ligament in my knee and severely ruptured the medial ligaments inside of the knee.
There was a big question over whether I would be here.”

Born in Brighton, Quilter began practising judo aged seven, but was diagnosed with Stargardt disease — a rare genetic sight disorder — three years later. The condition leaves him with no central vision and means he can see only peripherally.