Boccia UK looks to LA Paralympics

As Boccia UK continues to celebrate success in Paris, Performance Director Greg Baker is already looking ahead to the LA Games in 2028.

The highlight of the performances by Great Britain’s boccia squad at the Paris Paralympics was of course Stephen McGuire’s gold medal – Britain’s first ever medal in the BC4 category:

“Stephen’s performance was exceptional; an incredible gold medal which has been 20 years in the making. His perseverance and that of his coach Claire Morrison is an inspiration to all of us – athletes and staff but also to future generations of boccia athletes. His and Claire’s consistency, determination and vision have achieved something very special. They have shown that it can be achieved and the fact it’s taken twenty years to do that shows how in depth our sport is.”

IMAGECOMMS: STEPHEN MCGUIRE WINS GOLD

But Baker, also looking at the broader results, says the Paris performance augurs well for the future:

“We have come back with our best performance in the individuals in recent Paralympic Games. Five of our seven athletes progressed out of the pool stages into quarter finals. Guided by our performance coaches Claire Morrison, Glynn Tromans and Lauren Kianchehr, we also had three semi-finals and two bronze medal play-offs, and two athletes finishing fourth. All seven athletes – including our three first-time Paralympians - won matches and that’s never happened before in a recent Games.

“We were very close in achieving history-making results which makes us feel confident for the future. We’ve made some fantastic progress as a squad, building on the strength and depth in the squad across all classifications, but we also know there is work to be done if we are to reduce those finer margins that this sport obviously brings. In boccia, you can lose in millimetres and the score can change so quickly. As we head to LA, we will be closing in on those fine margins.”

In the team event, GB also performed strongly, progressing to the quarter finals and narrowly losing to Indonesia who went on to the win the silver medal and have been consistently strong this year. Baker added:

“The BC1/2 Team have put in a huge amount of work and dedication. David Smith, Claire Taggart and Kayleigh Haggo – with coaches Sarah Nolan and Lauren Kianchehr - have performed strongly this year and of course their progression into the world’s top three earlier this year was built on by earlier performances which featured Will Hipwell who has been an integral member of the team.”

IMAGECOMMS: THE BC1/2 TEAM IN ACTION

Great Britain finished joint sixth in the boccia medal table and Baker says that the mission now is to get more athletes onto the podium at future Paralympic Games, and moving up into the top four:

“No European nation reached the semi-final of the Team and Pairs event which was dominated by Asian, Oceania and American nations. There is a challenge there for European countries and one which we’ll be working on in this next cycle.

Credit: ImageComms

“It’s our vision to be one of the world’s top performing boccia nations by 2032 and to do that, we need to work hard to get ahead of the curve. We have a period of rest and recovery but then we’ll be undertaking an in-depth review with UK Sport, ParalympicsGB, our practitioners and of course our athletes and coaches to see what exactly we need to do.

“We’ve worked hard over the last couple of years to build a system where we can train together more often and to increase coaching opportunities within our programme. We’ll be looking at how we can build on the domestic training model and international sparring opportunities. And we’ve also made strides in driving more athletes through the Pathway to compete at the top level – and that’s something we need to keep working on, guided by Head of Performance Pathway Liz Fisher and our Talent coach Michaela Rihackova.”

Baker was also keen to thank athletes within the World Class Programme and Talent Transition Squad for their hard work, coaches and all staff who “work incredibly hard to develop the sport.”

He also paid tribute to those organisations who provide invaluable support:

“Paralympics GB once again provided a first-class environment in which we could deliver optimal performances and they made us feel right at home. Our ongoing partnership working with UK Sports Institute means we have the best practitioners and support. And of course, without UK Sport and The National Lottery, we simply could not do any of this. They provide our athletes with the platform to showcase their skills and to inspire disabled people.”

Baker also thanked the Boccia UK board and Home Nation partners for their “unwavering support.”