Stephen McGuire wins boccia gold medal at Paris Paralympics

Stephen McGuire won boccia gold for Great Britain to claim his maiden Paralympic medal.

The 40-year-old Scot, who made his debut at London 2012, defeated Colombian Edilson Chica 8-5 to take the BC4 men’s individual title.

McGuire was a late addition to the ParalympicsGB squad for France after recovering from a broken knee and femur sustained during a fall at his home in 2022.

He produced an assured performance at South Paris Arena, with a five-point gain at the third end ultimately proving decisive.

Earlier, British badminton player Dan Bethell was forced to settle for silver for the second successive Games after an agonising loss to Kumar Nitesh.

The 28-year-old was backed for gold in the SL3 men’s singles by former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp following his opening win over Wojtek Czyz.

But, having been beaten by Pramod Bhagat in the final on the sport’s debut in Tokyo three years ago, Bethell lost a tense showdown 21-14 18-21 23-21 as Nitesh secured further glory for India.

“It feels devastating, I came here for that gold,” he said. “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.”

Speaking about the presence of Klopp in Paris, Bethell added: “I think it was great for the sport, for him to be here and advertise the sport.

“The way the sport’s been run, the crowds we’ve had, is going to do wonders for the sport and to have him coming in here and supporting my opponent was amazing and it did just add to the whole experience.”