Two-time Paralympian Ashley Facey has retired from table tennis to take up a role as a sales rep with Enovis – a company that makes orthopaedic implants.

“It is a big decision,” acknowledged Facey. “I’m still young but I’m nearly 30 and I thought ‘do I continue as an athlete for another four years and have a crack at LA or do I want to have four years’ experience in a job and see how I get on in the working world’.

“I was given a shot at a job even though I’ve got no experience, and I couldn’t say no as it was something that I’ve been working towards over the past two years.

“As an athlete I learnt how to grow from a boy to a man, be more professional and take ownership of my programme and I can take all these attributes and apply them to the working world. There’s a lot to learn but I’m looking forward to it.”

The 29-year-old first joined the British Para Table Tennis Team Performance Squad in 2009, having fallen in love with the sport as an 11-year-old boy growing up in East London. He competed in his first Paralympic Games in Rio 2016 and won his first major championship medal at the European Championships in 2017, taking silver in the men’s class 10 team event with Kim Daybell.

He reached the quarter-finals in the men’s class 9 singles at the World Championships in 2018 and narrowly missed out on his first major singles medal at the Europeans in 2019, losing his quarter-final in five sets after his opponent saved match point with a net cord. He went on to take a team bronze with Daybell and Joshua Stacey and received a wildcard to compete in Tokyo where he narrowly failed to progress from his group in the men’s class 9 singles and reached the quarter-finals of the men’s class 9-10 team event with Stacey.

After Tokyo he left BPTT to pursue a career in cycling having discovered a passion for the sport during lockdown in 2020, but he returned to the team in December 2022 saying: “Transferring to cycling has made me realise how much I still love the sport of table tennis, and I miss competing and training as a table tennis player.”

He represented his country again at the European Championships in Sheffield in 2023 and won his first international title at the US Open in January this year, taking gold in the men’s class 9 singles. Despite taking further medals in Brazil, Italy and Czechia he missed out on qualification for his third Paralympic Games in Paris.

Unsurprisingly, Facey considers the two European medals and two Paralympic Games as the highlights of his career.

“The one match that stands out for me is the doubles against Russia with Kim at the Europeans in 2017,” he said. “That was very stressful because we knew if we won that we had a massive chance to take a major medal and if we didn’t it was unlikely so there was a lot of pressure and a lot of noise around that match.

“I’ll miss travelling the world and competing with teammates and the ethos that Gorazd has injected into the team – what he has done is remarkable. It’s a really good environment and I’m going to miss it so much.”

BPTT Performance Director Gorazd Vecko said: “Ashley was part of our programme for a long time and I’m happy that he felt supported in our table tennis family. He was very young when he joined us and I feel that I have lost one of my table tennis sons.

“Ashley always tried very hard and can be very proud of what he achieved in table tennis. He played superbly in doubles and singles when he won silver in the team event at the 2017 European Championships with Kim Daybell; he represented his country in two Paralympic Games and was one or two points away from playing for a medal in Tokyo.

“He was top 10 in the world in men’s class 9 and as well as winning the US Open title he made the final in four factor 40 events in China, Japan and twice in Slovenia, all of which were very strong tournaments so also great achievements for him.

“He is a great person and a great athlete, and I hope that he will find happiness in his new life. We wish him all the best.”