Steph 's golden moment

Great Britain’s Stephen McGuire secured a gold medal in the boccia at the Paralympic Games in Paris after a thrilling match against Colombia’s Edilson Chica Chica.

“I've played this sport for 20 years and I've been in every possible final, apart from the Paralympics.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.

stephen mcguire wins gold in the boccia. credit: imagecomms

“I felt really confident in the final. My flatmate here in Paris is David Smith and he's won three golds, he told me to have no regrets and told me not to settle for silver, just go for it.

“The easiest way to qualify is through the pairs but I didn't make it, so I had to focus everything on the individual. 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. It's been an unbelievable season, I've made a final in every competition I've entered.

After winning the semi-finals earlier this week, McGuire, from Hamilton in Scotland, explained it had been a “long, long journey working up to this moment” after breaking his knee and femur in 2022.

In the final, McGuire took the lead in the first end with three points but Chica Chica equalised in the second. With the Scot taking a two point lead in a brilliant third end, he knew his job in the fourth end was to close down the Colombian’s point-scoring opportunities, winning the game 8-5.

Greg Baker, Boccia UK’s Performance Director, said:

“Back in 2022, Stephen suffered a really serious injury. Breaking his knee and femur, he required major surgery. But he really committed himself to rehab and, against all odds, has come back as a really strong player, working his way back up to the world number three spot and earning a late call-up to Paris. He is a master tactician on court and to see him win gold today is just incredible.

“Steph is a great example of persevering and staying in the sport to achieve his dream. We hope his performances and sheer determination to succeed at the highest level will inspire current and future generations.”

On day four of the Games, Britain’s best-ever boccia player David Smith OBE admits he “ran out of gas” as he was defeated in the semi-final and then the bronze medal match.

“I’ve been fighting the floor all week. It transpired against me. I knew I’d lose at some point – it was just unfortunately it was in the semi-final and then playing my biggest rival for bronze. There were five people I could potentially see winning it, and they all got knocked out and the other one won the bronze. It just shows you the depth in the sport. It’s just unfortunate that this time around, it’s not to be but we’ve still got the Team to go. I’m really looking forward to that.”

Likewise, world number one Claire Taggart was unable to secure a podium spot:

“I‘m absolutely gutted. I just feel like I’ve worked so hard for this and I feel like I’ve let my friends and family down. I’m gutted for me, my family and for the community I live in who really support me and are massive advocates of me. I’m absolutely devastated.”

But she, like Smith, now look forward to competing in the Team event along with Kayleigh Haggo:

“It’s always a good opportunity to play in the team and it’s something that definitely picks up my mood so it will be good to do that,” added Taggart.

Will Arnott and Sally Kidson, who were unable to escape the pools in the individual BC3 tournament, are also starting afresh in the Pairs event. The duo won the qualifying tournament in Portugal back in March to seal their spot in Paris.

Meanwhile, Patrick Wilson has completed competition. The Scot performed strongly to reach the quarter finals but was overcome by Poland’s Damian Iskrzycki.

“I’m pretty gutted. I was trying to do the right things but they weren’t coming off. I almost came back in the third end but it didn’t quite happen.”

Greg Baker, Performance Director added:

“Our athletes have all performed strongly. We’ve seen athletes beat highly ranked players. Take Sally Kidson who, at 19, beat the world number three in her opening competition. She is one of three players making their Paralympic debut here and we know this experience will be extremely important as they continue towards LA. We have had five quarter finals and three semi-finals in the individual events, something we have never done before. The athletes should be very proud of their performances. We will continue to work on building breadth and depth into the sport and we are all committed to do just that. 

“We’re now really excited to get started in our Team and Pairs competition so there is little time to celebrate Stephen’s brilliant gold medal. We might have to wait a bit longer to do that properly!”