McGuire wants fourth Paralympics after 'toughest period'

Boccia veteran Stephen McGuire is aiming to get back to his best - and a fourth Paralympics this summer - after a broken leg led him to suffer the "toughest period of my career".

The 39-year-old from Hamilton in Scotland is part of the Great Britain team heading to the boccia Paralympics qualifying tournament in Portugal, starting on 22 March.

Boccia is played by wheelchair users. A target sport, it is similar to boules with athletes throwing balls towards a target.

McGuire represented GB at the Paralympics in London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo - but has faced an uphill challenge to reach Paris 2024.

After ending 2021 as European champion in the BC4 category and being ranked second in the world, McGuire suffered a broken leg and knee in a fall at his home which ruled him out for eight months.

With accuracy and the athlete's trust in their body essential to success in boccia, McGuire says it has been difficult to work his way back to the top.

"That was the toughest period of my career," McGuire tells BBC Sport. "I was worried I would never be able to compete at the top level again.

"I'm at an age when I'm regularly asked when I am going to retire, but want it to be on my terms. I want to get back to the level I was at before.

"Rehab was intensive, there was lots of pain and perseverance. But I have made my way back."

Following rehabilitation, McGuire enjoyed a successful 2023. He was selected for the European Para Championships in Rotterdam where he won individual bronze and a silver medal as part of the BC4 pairs with Fiona Muirhead - with whom he will be attempting to qualify for Paris.

Qualification would represent an important milestone for McGuire, following such an intense recovery during which he admits he was not always the easiest to live with, but where he was still closely involved with his team-mates.

"It was tough mentally and physically," he says. "But I had physios around me from Boccia UK, coming to my home. I had a detailed plan of where I needed to be, and mentally I had to be prepared for that.

"It was frustrating, but you have to trust the process. Now I'm lucky to be back in a situation where I am competitive.

"I was probably not the easiest to live with, you'd have to ask my partner. I was bedbound for a few months, so we put the bed in the living room so I could watch TV.

"But I was involved in video calls with the squad, strategy and things like that. Yes, I couldn't compete and do physical things, but I was helping the other guys."

With two decades of action behind him, the 2016 world individual champion thinks boccia is the most competitive he has ever seen it.

The individual events at Paris 2024 will be split by gender for the first time, while qualifying for the pairs events will see the top three in Portugal reach the Paralympics, rather than being determined by world rankings as previously.

McGuire and Muirhead are top seeds for the qualifying competition, but he is taking nothing for granted.

"It's extremely competitive, anyone out in Portugal has the opportunity," McGuire says. "It's exciting, a chance to show what we can do.

"This has been the toughest Paralympic cycle. The quality grows year by year - when I started there were four or five countries in the mix, now it's a top 16.

"That's what you want from elite sport."