In a culmination of 10 days of energetic competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, our GB squads played their final games at the Bercy Arena to determine their placings.
After a string of undefeated games demonstrating their team power and cohesiveness, our GB Men headed into the gold medal match against the fierce USA opposition.
The GB Men’s journey to the final saw them defeat Australia 84:64 in a dominant fashion, progressing them to the semi-final to face Germany once again.
After a close first half, GB Men stormed into the lead to claim a 71:43 victory against Germany to advance to the gold medal match.
Despite constant determination during the final to remain on the tails of the experienced USA squad, and a memorable last-minute 3-pointer from Terry Bywater, the game finished 69:73 in favour of the USA.
The squad was awarded their well-deserved silver medals, making them the first GB squad to do so in 28 years.
Abdi Jama commented following the conclusion of the game:
“We are happy and bitter at the same time; we came here to win the gold but to leave here with a silver medal is amazing.
It’s always horrible to lose in a final but at the same time we’ve had an amazing tournament so we should keep our heads up and we’ll come back, hopefully for LA.
We’ve had amazing guys that have broken through like Peter (Cusack) and Lee Fryer, both of them were phenomenal – the future is bright for us.”
Our GB Women concluded their Paris journey in the 5th/6th classification game against Germany following a narrow 59:52 defeat by USA in the quarterfinals two days prior
Ending the competition on a high, the team demonstrated their ability to deliver under pressure, claiming the win and 5th place with a 48:39 finish.
Captain Sophie Carrigill commented:
“We felt really good and confident during that game – it was important for us to finish this tournament on a win.
“It’s difficult sometimes to go into those games when you are so hopeful but I’m really proud of the girls’ resilience throughout the whole tournament.
“It’s been incredible, our whole togetherness, the belief that we have in each other, the support that we have for each other has been incredible throughout the whole two weeks of being here despite the highs and lows that a Paralympics brings.
“Our support has been incredible, the fans have been unbelievable, we’ve had people in the stands supporting us every single game.
“Our whole program, our coaches have been incredible as well so shoutout to them for the tactics, the technical side of things that nobody ever really sees.”
We would like to thank all of the supporters who cheered our squads on, both from the Bercy Arena and at home.
The atmosphere created by fans has been repeatedly mentioned by athletes and commentators as a defining highlight of the Games.
If you want to re-live the action you can stream all games on the Channel 4 Sport YouTube channel: Channel 4 Sport – YouTube
All results and statistics from the competition can be viewed here: Paralympic Schedule & Results – 29 August | Paris 2024 Paralympics (olympics.com)
