By David Gold

Matthew Ellis_12_AugustAugust 12 - Cyclist Crystal Lane and footballer Matthew Ellis have been added to the British Paralympic squad for London 2012 by the British Paralympic Association (BPA).

Lane, the winner of a bronze medal at the 2011 Para-cycling Road World Championships in Denmark, only made her international debut last year.

She has been given a place at the Paralympics after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) allocated the host nation a bi-partitite slot.

Ellis (pictured top, in white) takes the place of Josh Beacham in Britain's seven-a-side football team.

Beacham has had to pull out through injury, meaning that Ellis will have the chance to help the team improve on their showing in Beijing four years ago, which he was also a part of.

The athletics team has also been hit by an injury to Andy Kaar, a European silver medal-winning T20 1500 metres runner, although there is no replacement named for him.

Crystal Lane_12_August
Craig Hunter, the ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission, said: "It is very sad for those whose injuries have meant that they can no longer join the team in London, but I would like to congratulate Crystal and Matthew on their selection.

"In particular, I'm delighted that Crystal [pictured above] has joined the team.

"She has worked very hard and I am pleased that we are now in a position to welcome her to ParalympicsGB."

"It was very unexpected news," added British Cycling's Paralympic performance manager, Gareth Sheppard.

"We had applied for the place in March and initially been told that we had not been awarded one.

"Crystal had only narrowly missed out on initial selection, so it is fantastic to be able to give her the opportunity to compete in London.

"It really strengthens our team."

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