After 20 years, at 4:50pm today (02/09/2024) Stephen McGuire of the GB Boccia team finally made his dream of winning a Paralympic medal come true.

McGuire defeated Columbia’s E Chica 8-5 to win the BC4 men’s individual title at the South Paris Arena.

Speaking to Paris reporter Lauren Lethbridge, before heading to Paris, McGuire, told of his excitement to be selected once again to represent Paralympics. “I’ve come fourth three times, fingers crossed, I can go over the line this time and deliver that medal”.

Talking about the tactics of the game, McGuire says “it’s a balance between defending and attacking. It’s never really over until the last ball is thrown.”

Well in the case of the gold medal match, it was ball three from the Columbia player, where the smile crept onto McGuires faces and the reality that he could have won that gold became real. Not wanting to believe until the final confirmation, McGuire sat tight for the final two red balls to be thrown.

With cheers from his family in the audience, McGuire shook the hand of his Columbian opponent before starting his own celebrations.

His run up to the final has been pretty plain sailing winning all bar one of his games.

McGuire, who has Muscular Dystrophy, had only lost one game out of 18 in the last year, setting him up nicely for the games ahead.

This will be the first time McGuire will have played in the individuals only, having played his first ever Paralympics with his brother Pete. “I’ve only got an individual focus this time, something I have never done before. I suppose it gives you that space to just fully focus on one job.”

 McGuire only qualified for the games 45 days before they began so has been a whirlwind of emotions for the 40-year-old Scotsman.

This Paralympic cycle has not been without its challenges, as McGuire broke his femur and knee following a fall at home in 2022.

Despite it taking a year for him to get back into challenges he said “It was the toughest period of my career, but there was light at the end of the tunnel and I managed to push myself back up to world number three again.

McGuire, said himself and David Smith are the more experienced member of the Boccia team and referred to both of them as “the athletes that had been round the block a few times”. He advised he was looking forward to the new members of the team coming in and helping them in their journey.

Talking about his disability and the sport, “It’s the backbone of the Paralympics, because it’s for athletes with the highest disability, with the highest physical impairment needs. Boccia is the most inclusive sport”.

Boccia does not have an Olympic equivalent, and Mcguire speaks about his memory of their only being one international match per year when he started. Now he says, there are 12 or 13.

With a gold medal around his neck, McGuire beamed with pride as the Arena sang the national anthem, for a man who came third four times, he can now be remembered for the man who won the gold.

In collaboration with Lauren Lethbridge @ procrastipoise