When most people see or hear the word Paralympics, they immediately think of athletics, cycling or swimming. But what about the other incredible unique and inclusive Para sports available to disabled people?
In our fourth and final part of our ParalympicsGB highlights series, our editor, Emma Purcell, showcases the rest of Great Britain’s success in Paris from the many sports that you’d likely only get to see at the Paralympics.
Paralympic sports Great Britain competed in at Paris 2024:
- Boccia
- Taekwondo
- Judo
- Rowing
- Canoeing
- Triathlon
- Wheelchair Tennis
- Badminton
- Table Tennis
- Archery
- Shooting
- Wheelchair Fencing
- Powerlifting
- Equestrian
- Wheelchair Basketball
- Wheelchair Rugby
Stephen McGuire… Your boccia is terrifying
Boccia player Stephen McGuire delivered a supersonic victory, securing his first-ever Paralympic title in Paris.
This is his fourth appearance at the Games and after defeats in three semi-finals, he’s finally cracked the podium, dominating Colombia’s Edilson Chica Chica to win a tactical battle and live up to his ‘Mr Strategy’ nickname.
There’s a lot of great sport in Paris at the moment but perhaps you’ll find the beating heart of these Games at the end of Metro Line 8 in the southwest of the city.
Boccia is a sport unique to the Paralympics and played by athletes with a disability affecting locomotor function. It’s a game of control, accuracy and tactics and Stephen loves outthinking rivals more than anything else.
“All through my career, I’ve loved strategic games, my teammates don’t play me at chess anymore because they can’t beat me,” said Stephen.
“Any sport where I can think a few moves ahead, I love. My whole game is about tactics, my power is not the best, so I love getting the strategy right.”
Stephen’s involvement in Paris was not confirmed until a few weeks before the start of the Games, with the 40-year-old taking one of the last spots on the team after initially failing to qualify for the team event.
He was starting to think the Paralympics were beyond him, soon after returning empty-handed from Tokyo, he broke his femur and knee in a fall at home and didn’t return to the court for 18 months.
“I’ve played this sport for 20 years and I’ve been in every possible final, apart from the Paralympics, I’ve never even been to the podium,” he added.
“I was starting to feel this event was getting away from me, two-fourths in London, another fourth in Rio, I didn’t even make the semis in Tokyo, it just shows why you should never give up.
“I felt really confident in the final. My flatmate is David Smith and he’s won three golds, he told me to have no regrets and not to settle for silver, just go for it.
“Just getting here has not been easy, it was a lot of hard work, a lot of soul searching and I was the last person to be named on this team, the others knew months ago. However, it’s been an unbelievable season, I’ve made the final in every competition I’ve entered.
“There weren’t many nerves, there were more in the semi-final because I’ve lost the last three. It’s a Paralympic final, I may never reach another one, so I told myself to enjoy it.”
Read: Kayleigh Haggo: Switching The Race Track For Boccia Balls To Compete At Her First Paralympic Games In Paris & Will Arnott: From School Boccia Player To Paralympic Contender
Para martial arts in the spotlight
Two martial arts sports – taekwondo and judo – were showcased at the Paris Paralympics, with six British athletes in total hoping to make the podium.
Kick ass double golds in taekwondo
In taekwondo, Amy Truesdale and debutant Matt Bush became the first British athletes to win gold in the sport, which first appeared on the Paralympic programme at Tokyo 2020.
The pair claimed dominant victories in the women’s +65kg and men’s +80kg categories to make history.
Tokyo bronze medallist Amy Truesdale, 35, could not have been more assured in reaching the showpiece with 30-9 and 26-13 wins in the quarter and semi-finals.
The Cheshire native had far too much for Guljonoy Naimova in the final but there was late drama after one of her kicks unwittingly caught the Uzbek in the throat.
Guljonoy Naimova needed to be stretchered off the mat and Truesdale would have been disqualified had the move been deemed intentional, but judges ruled in her favour after a nervy wait.
Since winning bronze in Tokyo, Amy has been on a mission and is now the first fighter ever to hold Paralympic, world and European titles concurrently.
“It’s the last medal I needed to complete my career,” she said. “I’m the Paralympic champion and I’ve made history. I am so grateful for the support.
“I had three hard fights today. People who know me know that after Tokyo, the hardest fight is the one that I have every day in my mind and I smashed that, so I’m grateful that was the fight that I won.”
Read: Amy Truesdale: From Self-Defence To Paralympic Success In Taekwondo
Matt Bush has been through his own battles and was ruled out of Rio and Tokyo due to injury, missing out on the eve of the Games three years ago, having been selected.
The Welshman cut a swathe through the heavyweight field with 16-4 and 26-13 wins, securing at least silver.
With his daughter watching on, the 35-year-old put in a tactical masterclass in the final to beat neutral athlete Aliaskhab Ramazanov 5-0.
“I thought taekwondo was going to be a bit of a side quest, that I would do my normal life and nip in and get a gold but it didn’t work out that way,” said Bush.
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of injuries, a lot of time, but we just persevered. I learned a lot from the injuries and the setback and I grew a lot as a person.”
Read: Matt Bush: Two-Time Taekwondo World Champion Aims For Gold In Paralympic Debut At Paris 2024
Meanwhile, Tokyo silver medalist Beth Munro missed out on a medal in Paris, losing 16-20 to China’s Yinan Yao in the quarterfinal of the Women’s K44 -65kg.
Emotional journeys to judo success
In Judo, two returning Brits and a debutant, all of whom have visual impairments, competed in Paris.
Dan Powell has been to hell and back during his judo career and finally has a Paralympic medal to show for it.
Dan was introduced to the sport by his dad, Terry, himself a Paralympic medallist in the sport but has twice stepped away to pursue other sports.
He had never finished higher than seventh in his two Games appearances at London and Tokyo prior to reaching the gold medal final at Paris 2024, eventually losing to Brazil’s Arthur Cavalcante da Silva in the -90kg category.
“It’s been an emotional last year, this is 16 years in the making,” said Dan.
“This has been hell for the last 16 years, winning, losing, breaking my body.
“And coming back again and doing that, it means so much.
“One hundred per cent, this justifies coming back. I love fighting, I love judo, I love competing and being able to fly around the world with the support of the National Lottery and the support in this stadium.
“It has been heavy, but at the same time, the most amazing feeling, to be able to do it with my little boy, it’s a different level.
“To be able to do that in front of practically a home crowd with the amount of support that has come out, all I could hear was ‘scouser, scouser’.
“I’ve processed it now and I am so proud of myself and the team that have helped me get here.”
Dan made his Games debut in London alongside brother Marc before stepping away from the sport for five years and taking up Para athletics.
A second seventh-place finish at Tokyo 2020 prompted another sports switch as Dan tried his hand at rowing before returning to judo once again in 2022.
He added: “Judo has absolutely chewed me up, spat me out and I have come back for more every time.
“I think I am daft at this point. I’m not going anywhere, I absolutely love the sport, from a visually impaired perspective, there is no other sport that is so close to its visually impaired counterpart.
“All we do is grip up and you just crack on and have a scrap like you do on the Olympic side of things.
“That is something you certainly didn’t get in athletics and rowing; you can’t start scrapping in those sports.”
Dan Powell was not the only judoka to make it onto the podium at the Champ de Mars, with Chris Skelley winning an emotional bronze in the 90kg+ category.
Having won gold in Tokyo three years ago, Chris’ defence of his title came to an end after a battling loss to Turkey’s Ibrahim Bolukbasi.
But he bounced back to get the better of Tony Ricardo Mantolas to take bronze, before revealing just how difficult the build-up to these Games has been.
He said: “It was a tough day. I had a really good semi-final against Bolukbasi and it was so, so close. I was really annoyed that I didn’t win that. In my head, it was about pressure, I knew I could beat that guy all day long but the demons come out in your head and make you question yourself. So it’s good to get the win.
“If you had said to me six months ago that I would step onto the mat in Paris, I’d have bitten your hand off. It’s been a very tough six months for me, mentally and physically. I’m so pleased that I’ve come through it a stronger person.
“Everyone who looked after me and kept me going when I wanted to just leave and quit. It’s for everyone.”
Evan Molloy was the third Brit in action in the judo, going out in the quarter-finals before losing his repechage bout.
But Chris Skelley backed the Paralympic debutant to bounce back and star in Los Angeles in four years.
He said: “I’m proud of that little man. I know he didn’t get a medal but he is one to watch. I would put my mortgage on it that he will be a gold medallist in LA. Everyone watch out for Evan Molloy, he is going to be around for a long time.”
Read: Evan Molloy: Judo Athlete Overcoming Adversity To Represent ParalympicsGB At Paris 2024
Thrilling boat races on the French waters
Both the rowing and canoeing took place at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, 20 miles east of Paris. With a combined crew of 19 athletes and 12 medals won across both sports, Great Britain’s rowers and canoeists had a very successful Paralympic Games in France.
Gold rush and stunning silver for ParalympicsGB rowing
All 10 British rowers made the podium with a gold rush for three of the rowing boats, which began with Benjamin Pritchard’s single sculls victory.
The mixed four continued their 14-year unbeaten run and extended one of the longest winning streaks in British sport.
Lauren Rowles became the first Paralympian to win three gold medals in rowing with a thrilling double sculls success alongside former Army Commando Gregg Stevenson.
Reacting to their gold medal win, Lauren said: “It’s the Paralympic Games, you either show up or you show out and I said that in the first race that it was going to come down to the line, the level of competition is high and we got out there, kept on our processes and I said to Gregg, when I say go you go and he did that today and we just went for it, stayed in our lane, did our own thing and came through as champions.”
In addition, the Mixed PR3 Double Sculls duo Sam Murray and Annie Caddik won silver.
Confident canoeing for Great Britain
The largest British canoeing team in Games history matched that haul to bring back eight pieces of hardware amid vicious crosswinds at Vaires-sur-Marne.
Charlotte Henshaw had to fight to claim her second Paralympic gold of the Games as she successfully defended her KL2 title.
The Mansfield native won the first-ever Women’s VL3 title before backing it up with a dominant performance a day later.
She set a Paralympic record despite tough conditions to beat teammate Emma Wiggs by 2.46 seconds with a time of 49.07.
“It was not pretty, probably not my best delivery in terms of how it looked but I’m really proud of how I managed to think quickly, draw on all my experience of water sports and managed to get that kayak to do what I wanted it to do and get over the line first,” said Charlotte.
“I’m proud of us both for battling that and it’s not been easy. It’s just beyond what I could’ve imagined.”
Emma Wiggs now stands alone as the most successful Paralympic canoeist ever, with five medals to Australian Curtis McGrath’s four. She won gold in the Women’s Va’a Single 200m VL2, followed by silver in the Women’s Kayak Single 200m KL2.
Meanwhile, Laura Sugar was delighted to claim the nation’s 49th and final gold medal of the Games, defending her Women’s KL3 title in a Paralympic Best time, coming home in a time 46.66 to beat out home hopeful Nelia Barbosa of France by 1.25 seconds with Germany’s Felicia Laberer of Germany taking bronze.
There were also silvers for Hope Gordon, Dave Phillipson and debutant Jack Eyers.
Read: Ed Clifton: Para Canoeist Paddling His Way To Paralympic Glory
British athletes deliver double gold in triathlon
The ParalympicsGB triathlon squad managed to secure five medals in total after a delayed start to the races due to poor-quality water in the river.
Two athletes delivered double gold, with Megan Richter winning the Women’s PTS4 title while teammate Dave Ellis was victorious in the Men’s PTVI, alongside guide Luke Pollard.
Speaking after her race, Megan said: “I could feel my legs starting to go but I knew I needed to get to the end. I was out with a stress fracture last year but I went all in full-time a few months ago and races started going well at the start of the year. Things just came together and I’m so happy, the timing has been perfect.
“Since I was little, this was all that I dreamed about, looking up to people like Ellie Simmonds and wanting to be just like her.
“I didn’t mind the swim, actually I think well done to Paris for trying to clean up their bigger river, I can’t imagine swimming in the Thames through London.”
Megan’s teammate Hannah Moore also joined her on the podium, winning bronze in the PTS4 event.
Claire Cashmore and Lauren Steadman won silver and bronze respectively in the PTS5 event.
Read: Henry Urand: From Para-Cycling To Paralympic Triathlon Debut At Paris 2024
Racket swings and paddle bat serves secure podium finishes
There were a lot of highs and lows throughout the wheelchair tennis, badminton and table tennis at the Paris Paralympics.
A jumping crowd at Roland Garros
At the wheelchair tennis, there were three opportunities to win gold, but only one was executed. After two consecutive silvers in the Men’s doubles in Rio and Tokyo, Great Britain’s Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett finally claimed gold, beating Japan’s Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki 6-2 6-1.
Less than 24 hours later, world number one Alfie Hewett was back on Philippe Chatrier for a singles clash with Japan’s Tokito Oda.
After his historic win at Wimbledon just a few weeks before, Alfie needed another gold here to complete the set.
But he spurned a match point chance in a three-set thriller and then was left in tears after Oda reeled off point after point to take the title 6-2 4-6 7-5.
Alfie, though, should take solace in his supporting role in the quality sporting moment of these Paralympics – a truly world-class match played in front of a jumping crowd at an iconic venue.
“Deep down, to be one point away from gold, that’s going to stick with me for a long time,” said Alfie.
“I’ve missed gold by two or three inches there, it’s pretty agonising to be that close. I really like that I had the momentum at that point.
“I’ll admit it affected me, he saved a match point in the Paralympic final and it didn’t deflate him, he just brought out his best tennis.
“I just felt like I was losing grip of the match after that and that’s what I’m most disappointed about.
“But if you are going to lose, then you’ve got to lose with your head held high. What we’ve both done for wheelchair tennis and for the Paralympics with that match, sometimes things are bigger than a gold medal.
“What we’ve done here will go down in the history of our sport, that’s what I told him at the end.”
There was also a silver for Andy Lapthorne and Gregory Slade in the wheelchair tennis Mixed Quad Doubles.
Read: Dahnon Ward: From Wheelchair Tennis Junior Champion To Paralympic Debut At Paris 2024
Bittersweet feelings for silver wins in badminton
In badminton, the Brits Daniel Bethell and Krysten Coombs reached their respective finals but could only come away with silvers.
Krysten Coombs was delighted to upgrade his men’s singles bronze to silver: “It obviously wasn’t the result I’d have wanted but to be out there with that crowd was incredible.
“We don’t have that in other para-badminton tournaments, so to be able to experience that was amazing. Near the end, I had to take it all in.
“It’s the dream. The hard work, the dedication, the years of sacrifices, not being able to do things with friends and family – to have them here tops it off.
“To have the support of ParalympicsGB and everyone at home, there’s a lot of people behind the scenes who push it through, from UK Sport and The National Lottery, which allows me to be here and be in this atmosphere.
“If people didn’t do the Lottery at home, we wouldn’t have this experience.”
Meanwhile, Dan Bethell also won silver but was bitterly disappointed by the result, making it crystal clear that his only ambition was gold in Paris.
“It feels devastating,” he said. “I came here for that gold. I got the silver in Tokyo and it was my ambition from the start to go one better but I just couldn’t get it over the line today.
“I never like losing, particularly in a Paralympics when I’ve already gone through losing a Paralympic final.
“I’ve got to take some pride at getting through to the final as a lot of athletes dream of it and to get on that podium but at the moment, I’m just completely devastated that I’ll be on the second step.”
A mixed bag of results in the table tennis
There was a mixed bag in the table tennis as well. Rio 2016 Champion Will Bayley made it to the Men’s Class 7 singles final only to be beaten by Yan Shuo of China in a 3-2 win in the showpiece.
“I thought it was a great game, I thought he played well,” Will said. “I thought he was superb as well.
“Some of the points were actually great and I was enjoying it, some of the balls I hit were unbelievable and he hit some unbelievable shots which I was surprised about as well.
“I enjoyed the match, I enjoyed being a part of it, it was a privilege, it was probably the best two class 7 players for a long, long time going head to head at their best.
“But I am gutted because I felt it was my destiny to win this tournament.”
Meanwhile, teenage sensation Bly Twomey sealed two bronzes at her debut Games. The 14-year-old from Brighton saw a place in the women’s singles gold medal final slip from her grasp as she lost 3-2 to world champion Kubra Korkut of Turkey. Earlier on in the week, she also claimed bronze in the Women’s Doubles Class 14 alongside teammate Fliss Pickard.
Speaking after her singles match, Bly said: “It means a lot to win two bronze medals at my first Paralympic Games at the age of 14 and I’m really proud to represent my country and it has been an amazing experience.
“It gives me a lot of hope to know that I’m on the same level as them and to know that I’ve got a bronze medal.
“It gives me a lot of confidence because I think maybe I could get a gold in the future.”
There was also a silver medal for Robert Davies in the Men’s Class 1 match and a bronze for Billy Shilton and Paul Karabardak in the Men’s Doubles Class 14.
Read: Martin Perry: British Table Tennis Debutant Aims For First Paralympic Medal
GB on target at the archery and shooting
There was medal success for Great Britain across the Para archery and Para shooting in Paris.
Teamwork makes the dream work for GB archers
Para-archer Jodie Grinham won mixed team archery gold with her ‘little one’ – except this time, she was not referring to her unborn child.
Instead, the Cardigan native was talking about her teammate Nathan Macqueen as the pair combined to make history as ParalympicGB’s first-ever gold medallists in the discipline.
Jodie is currently seven months pregnant and became the first person at the most advanced stage of pregnancy to ever compete at a Games.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Jodie said. “I don’t think there is anyone I would rather become Paralympic champion with.
“I’ve got this little one here. I say little one, but I can say that because I’ve watched him come on and I watched him qualify for his first Games.
“I watched him grow in the sport. I’ve watched him turn into a dad. It’s a true honour.
“I said to him earlier ‘it was an absolute honour to watch you qualify for your first Games and being part of you winning your first medal was just going to be exceptional’.
“Let alone actually being Paralympic champions together, it’s the proper cherry on top of the cake there.”
Jodie had already won Women’s individual compound bronze at Paris 2024 and has now completed the set, adding gold to the mixed team silver she won in Rio.
The pair, who went into the competition as the second seeds, defeated Australia comfortably in the quarter-final.
They then faced Italy, beating them 156-149 to confirm Jodie’s third and Nathan’s first Paralympic medal in a joint-Paralympic record score.
GB always had the upper hand in the final against Iran, although an eight from Nathan on the penultimate made things more nervy.
The pair then ended with a perfect score to confirm themselves as Paralympic champion in dream fashion with a 155-151 triumph.
She added: “100 per cent, I knew we could take it. There was not a doubt in me that thought if we just shot how we shoot. Not we’ve got to shoot extra, or there is more pressure.
“But I knew if we shoot the level that we shoot normally just in practice at home, enjoying it and having fun, we were absolutely going to storm it today and I’m really happy to say that we did.
“We both had a few shots in there where we were like ‘ughh’ but at the same time, I know that I can shoot those shots because Nathan’s going to have my back and put it in the ten and vice versa when needed.”
The slight groans that greeted Nathan’s eight in the third end were replaced by huge cheers as the pair claimed gold.
But for Jodie, the party atmosphere had already begun on the competition floor, as she took the chance to enjoy herself.
“I love it, this is why I do sport. If I could never train and only ever compete, that would be absolutely brilliant in my life,” she said.
“But it doesn’t work like that when you’re an athlete. Being here and having the crowds, having the adrenaline and the meaning behind it.
“You’re not just shooting for the sake of it. You’re shooting for something. That’s where the real enjoyment and the real competition shots come out.”
Read: Victoria Kingstone: A Journey Of Resilience And Triumph In Paralympic Archery To Get To Paris 2024
Tim Jeffery ends shooting drought
Tim Jeffery showed all his fighting instincts to claim Great Britain’s first Paralympic shooting medal since London 2012.
Tim, who was introduced to the sport by the Scout Association aged 11, made his Paralympic debut in Rio but just missed the medals in three final appearances in Tokyo.
This time, in the SH2 mixed 50m rifle, he held his nerve as Serbia’s Dragan Ristic took gold and Georgia’s Vladimir Tchintcharauli silver in Chateauroux.
“It has been a hard week but I couldn’t be happier to win my first Paralympic medal,” he said.
“It was a struggle in qualification but a good end result. The bronze medal match was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a long time.
“I had to really dig deep and really trust the work I’ve put in over the last few years. I had to trust the process and there was some determination out there.
“It’s really good having two Brits in the final, we’ve both improved on our form from Tokyo.
“It’s incredible to be able to share this with my family, especially after the disappointment of the first half of the week. Hopefully, this medal is the first of many, I’m still pretty young, so hopefully, I’ve got plenty more Games in my future.”
Victory on point in wheelchair fencing
ParalympicsGB’s wheelchair fencing team managed to claim six medals in total in Paris. The greatest success came from Dimitri Coutya, winning golds in the Men’s Individual Épée and the Men’s Individual Foil. He also helped GB win silver in the Men’s Team Foil and bronze in the Men’s Team Épée.
After all the work that the 26-year-old has put in since Tokyo, Dimitri was thrilled to have made it onto the podium for the fourth time in five days.
He said: “I always find the Games so incredible. Three or four years of your life go into five days of competition.
“It’s horribly gruelling but I’m really proud of what we have all put in. It’s really tough to come away with a Paralympic medal, so this is a feat we should all be very proud of. I’m very proud to call these guys my teammates.”
There were also individual silvers for Piers Gilliver in the Category A Épée and Sabre.
Super strength secured two silvers and a bronze in powerlifting
Powerlifting has been the viral hit of the Games, with some competitors lifting three times their body weight to win gold.
For ParalympicsGB, Zoe Newson was watched on by her son as she claimed her first Paralympic silver medal at Paris 2024.
The Para powerlifter, who trains at Loughborough University, twice won bronze at London 2012 and Rio 2016 and upgraded it in style in the Women’s -45kg category at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena.
The 32-year-old, who is originally from Colchester, had a nervy wait to confirm her third Paralympic medal as she successfully challenged the judging on her third lift, which was originally judged a no lift.
“I don’t really know how I’m feeling,” she said. “Good, happy, emotional, a bit of everything.
“I didn’t realise my third lift had been counted. It didn’t come on the screen but we heard the crowd start cheering.
“Then we saw it on the screen and lost it. My boy and my fiancé are in the crowd, so I got quite emotional.”
Zoe, who is keeping at her fourth consecutive Paralympic Games, was the first British athlete to take to the stage as the Para powerlifting got underway on day seven of the Games.
Her first two lifts of 102 and 104 kg put her in second place with one lift to go in the competition.
But, after a review, her final lift of 109kg stood to see her leapfrog Nazmiye Muratli of Tyrkey into the silver medal position.
Lingling Guo of China claimed the gold, with each of her three lifts were heavier than anyone else in the competition.
She was then given an extra lift in an attempt to break the world record, which she duly did with a lift of 123kg.
Zoe failed to medal at her third Games in Tokyo but admitted to having some nerves as she stepped out to compete in Paris.
However, by her final lift, she was feeding off the support, with the enthusiastic crowds continuing at the Para powerlifting.
She added: “It was very different to Tokyo but it was good.
“Once I get my first or second, I’m alright as my nerves get a lot calmer. The first one, I just get on the bench, and don’t do anything. By my second or third, I’m waving to the crowd.
“It has been great. Paris has been a great Paralympics, I’m glad to come away with a silver medal.”
GB won two more medals in the unique discipline, with Mark Swan taking silver in the -65kg category and Olivia Broome bronze at -50kg.
Read: Lottie McGuiness: The Powerlifting Prodigy Ready To Make Her Mark At Her Debut Paralympics
A cohort of para-dressage riders win bronze
ParalympicsGB’s equestrian team ended Paris 2024 with a freestyle full house. All four riders in action on the final day of competition at Château de Versailles won a medal, taking the team to a stunning seven overall, a haul bettered by no other nation.
Georgia Wilson and Sakura achieved a landmark result in the Grade II individual freestyle, scoring 79.374% to claim silver.
The 28-year-old from Abergele, Wales, bettered her bronze medal from Tokyo in the event and added to another bronze won in the championship test earlier in the week.
“Just incredible, when I did my individual test, it was a dream to go home with a medal. But to go home with two, it’s amazing,” she said.
Riding Dawn Chorus, Natasha Baker completed her comeback Games with a bronze medal at Grade III in both the freestyle and the individual events.
The Uxbridge-based rider scored 77.140% in the freestyle to soar to bronze and cradled her son Joshua in her arms in post-competition interviews.
“I’m just so happy,” she said. “I never expected it in a million years. I just want him [son, Joshua] to look back on his Mummy in 18 years time and think, ‘She’s pretty darn cool’.
“Just to show him I had a dream when I was a young child and I went out there and I grabbed it. For a Para athlete, not knowing how the pregnancy was going to treat me, how a comeback was going to treat me, I’m just over the moon.”
Sophie Wells added to her Paralympic medal haul with bronze at Grade V alongside LJT Egebjerggards Samoa.
Sophie scored 75.445% in the freestyle and now owns a staggering ten Paralympic medals stretching back to London 2012, with both of her bronzes coming in Paris.
“It was amazing riding in the arena again – I went in thinking this was the last time, I want to enjoy it but also not relax too soon. I am very proud of her,” she said.
Grade I rider Mari Durward-Akhurst crowned her stellar Paralympic debut with bronze on Athene Lindebjerg, notching a score of 77.747%.
“I was really happy with it. It was really hard work but I think I got what the judges wanted. All the movements came off and the music all fitted. It was good,” she said.
Read: Mari Durward-Akhurst: From Riding Therapy To Paralympic Stardom In Para-Dressage
“Roll Britannia” celebrations fall short in wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby
History was made in the wheelchair basketball for Great Britain, with the men’s squad reaching their first Paralympic final for the first time in 28 years. But their chance to secure gold was crushed by the USA, beating them 73–69 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.”
Read: Peter Cusack: From Paralympic Inspiration To Paris 2024 Debut In Wheelchair Basketball
For the women’s wheelchair basketball squad, they played the USA in the quarter-final but were sadly knocked out with a scoreline of 59 – 52.
Speaking after the defeat, GB player Jade Atkin said: “This will be my motivation for that, to get better and be better in LA. We’re coming for that gold.”
“Right now, I don’t reflect on it. Right now, I’m just brutally sad, to be honest… There are so many emotions that go through you in that game. How lucky are we to play a sport that can cause such emotions? How lucky am I to have such passion? When you are on the court in that environment and you are all pumped, everyone has got the same feelings as you.”
They played Japan in a 5-8 classification match, winning 67-55, and went on to play Germany in the 5/6 classification match, winning 48-39, to finish 5th place overall.
Read: Jade Atkin: The Rising Wheelchair Basketball Star Ready To Make History At Paris 2024
As for the wheelchair rugby squad, Great Britain were hoping to defend their gold medal from Tokyo 2020 but heartbreakingly, they could only finish fourth place in Paris.
GB’s semifinal saw them meet again with their Tokyo final opponents USA but the Brits failed to execute a fourth consecutive win and go on to retain the gold, losing 43 – 50.
The team went on to meet Australia again in the bronze medal match but the Steelers redeemed themselves from the opening match, beating GB 50 – 48.
Be sure to catch up on the ParalympicsGB squads at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Channel 4.
Check out our Paris 2024 ParalympicsGB debutants interview series.