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Last Updated on 07/09/2024 by Crip Life
Peter Cusack’s journey in wheelchair basketball, inspired by the London 2012 Paralympics, has led him from a sports day at Stoke Mandeville to becoming a key player in the GB men’s team. Now, he is preparing for his Paralympic debut in Paris.
As part of our ParalympicsGB debutants interview series, our editor, Emma Purcell, speaks to Peter Cusack about becoming a wheelchair basketball player, his sporting success so far and what he is most looking forward to at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Read: Jade Atkin: The Rising Wheelchair Basketball Star Ready To Make History At Paris 2024
Peter Cusack first tried the sport of wheelchair basketball at a Paralympic sports day after London 2012 at Stoke Mandeville, taking up the sport fully with hometown club Coventry CWBA. He’s been part of the GB set-up since 2015 and will make his Paralympic debut in Paris.
He is one of the GB men’s up-and-coming talents after helping the U23 team win their first World Championship title in 2017. Peter currently plays his club basketball in Spain.
Peter is a big fan of fictional audiobooks and always has one playing in the background. If he’s not playing wheelchair basketball or getting stuck into a book, Peter likes to play video games as a way of switching off.
ParalympicsGB men look to claim an elusive gold medal, having previously won five bronze and three silver.
As well as Peter, Lee Fryer will make his first-ever appearance in a Paralympic Games. The pair will join the ranks of seasoned athletes including 2018 World champions Lee Manning, Simon Brown, Harry Brown, Phil Pratt, Gregg Warburton, Abdi Jama, Jim Palmer and Terry Bywater. 2023 European gold medallists Kyle Marsh and Ben Fox complete the squad.
Read on to find out more about Peter Cusack in his own words and scroll down to see his Paris 2024 results.
Peter Cusack on living with paralysis
What is your disability and were you born with your impairment or acquired it later in life?
I’ve got polio in my left leg and hip leaving it partially paralysed. I got it from the vaccine actually when I was six months old. It’s a pretty slim chance that the polio vaccine would actually give you polio but that was me.
How does your disability affect you on a daily basis?
I suppose I don’t really notice it. It will affect me but I’m so used to it that I don’t really think about it. I use a wheelchair quite a lot. I have a caliper that I use on my left leg so I can walk about too but I use a mixture of them too. Yeah, I don’t really notice it too much.
Peter Cusack on becoming a wheelchair basketball player
You were introduced to wheelchair basketball at a Paralympic sports day at Stoke Mandeville. How did you discover this event and what drew you to wheelchair basketball?
My mum took me to Stoke Mandeville. It was after the Paralympics in London and we went to watch a bit of that. I remember seeing David Weir winning his medal on the track. I think I wanted to get into racing so my mum found that day at Stoke Mandeville and we went along.
I did archery, tennis, some athletic things and then basketball. I don’t know whether it was the team element of basketball or whether I had a bit of talent for it but it was by far and away the most enjoyable thing I did all day and I just said, “Yeah, I’m going to do that.”
What has been the highlight of your wheelchair basketball career so far?
It’s hard to say what my highlight has been so far. Going back a long way, we won the Junior Worlds back in 2017 in Toronto – that was really good. Going into my club, we won Euro League 3 the year with my new club in Spain in Murcia. We had to start off within the lower leagues of the Euro League. To get that, we could only beat what was in front of us. That was a good highlight and then being selected for Paris was a highlight again.
If domestic wheelchair basketball was to turn professional, would you consider returning to the UK to play?
Domestic UK leagues becoming professional leagues… Definitely. I have a great time in Spain. It’s a great country to live in. The weather’s a lot better obviously than it is in England but it’s just not home. Great Britain is my home – it’s where I was born. It feels right, so I would.
Away from basketball, you enjoy listening to audiobooks. Do you have a favourite book and/or author you like to read?
Probably for her range of stuff, JK Rowling. I listened to a lot of Harry Potter books when I was growing up. When I was little, I read the books. But now, going on, some of her newer stuff. Her Cormoran Strike books I’ve been really enjoying recently.
I like mainly fiction and some historical stuff. The Last Kingdom books by Bernard Cornwell I enjoyed. The Simon Scarrow books about the Roman Empire and then more modern ones about police and crime. Anything but mainly fictional.
Peter Cusack on preparing for Paris 2024
How does it feel to be selected for your first Paralympic Games?
I’m buzzing to be selected. I keep saying it hasn’t sunk in but we’re going tomorrow so if it’s not sunk in by now I don’t know when it’s going to! It’s the pinnacle of what you aim for in this sport, going to a Paralympics and hopefully bringing home a medal. Yeah, it’s through the roof.
How have your own/team’s preparations been going for Paris 2024?
We’ve been working hard. We’ve had a few camps mainly in Nottingham, which started in the second week of June and then we’ve been fairly non-stop since.
We’ve had some training competitions in Germany and some against the U23 team who have just won the European Cup. They gave us a good battle. We’ve been pretty focused. We’ve all got the same goal in that we want to win. I think it’s been good.
What are you looking forward to the most at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, as well as aiming to secure a medal?
Everyone says, ‘Don’t focus solely on the sport, try and enjoy it too’ but I feel I may fall into that trap a little bit, just focusing on the basketball. But I am going to try and explore the village and meet other athletes from different countries. Oh, and the food hall! I’m a big eater so 24/7 food is something I’m looking forward to.
Paris 2024 Paralympics: Men’s wheelchair basketball results
The ParalympicsGB men’s wheelchair basketball team has achieved three superb wins against Germany (76 – 55), Canada (88 – 58) and France (85 – 50), to make it into the quarter-finals at Paris 2024.
On 3rd September, GB beat Australia 84 – 64 in the quarter-final to secure a semi-final match against Germany on Thursday 5th, in which they won 71 – 43 to make their first Paralympic final in 28 years.
Heartbreakingly, their first gold medal will have to wait another four years after Team USA beat ParalympicsGB 73-69 in the final, to win a third consecutive Paralympics.
Reacting to the defeat, seven-time Paralympian Terry Bywater, said:
“It hurts. We just got beaten by the better team on the day, they were fantastic. We had such a fantastic tournament, the boys stuck together, but getting beaten by four points in a final, it’s going to hurt.
“They made some big shots down the stretch, they have a lot of experience in these finals and it’s the first time we’ve been there in many years. I’m so proud of the boys.”
Be sure to catch up on Peter Cusack’s match appearances and the rest of the ParalympicsGB wheelchair basketball squad at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Channel 4.
What is wheelchair basketball?
Wheelchair basketball is played by two teams of five. The rules of the game are broadly similar to those of Olympic Basketball, with the same size court and basket height.
A team has 24 seconds from taking possession of the ball to complete its attempt on the basket. One point is scored for a successful free-throw, two for a normal field basket and three for a shot made from behind the arc of the three-point line.
Players move the ball around the court by passing or dribbling. A dribble is when a player bounces the ball and pushes the chair simultaneously or, places the ball on their lap and takes up to two pushes of the chair, bounces the ball, and then places the ball back on their lap.
Players are required to throw or bounce the ball after every two pushes of the wheels on their chairs to avoid being penalised for ‘travelling’.
Twelve teams compete in group stages in the men’s competition and 10 teams in the women’s, with the top teams qualifying for the knock-out rounds.
Matches consist of four quarters of 10 minutes each.
A player who commits five personal fouls must be replaced in the game by another player.
Check out our other interviews with wheelchair basketball player Jade Atkin and former wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan.