Wheelchair basketball is one of the Paralympics’ most thrilling and high speed events. The Paris 2024 action takes place at the Bercy Arena in the French capital with a host of nations bidding for medals.
Eight men’s and eight women’s teams will fight it out, with over 190 athletes taking part. This is a reduced number of sides from previous editions – at Tokyo 2020, 12 men’s and 10 women’s teams took part.
In the men’s competition, Great Britain, Spain, USA, Australia, France, Netherlands, Germany and Canada line up; for the women, the field is comprised of Netherlands, Great Britain, USA, China, Canada, Germany, Spain and Japan.
Two teams of five players battle out on the court, with the hoop at the same height as in Olympic basketball. Given North America’s predominant role in the sport worldwide, it’s perhaps unsurprising that USA and Canada teams have dominated Paralympic basketball over the years.
The event has been contested in various forms at the Paralympic Games since 1960 (in 1960 and 1964, just men’s teams took part, with two different disability classifications), and USA lead the medal table, with 13 golds, two silvers and eight bronzes; Canada have six golds, a silver and a bronze.
Israel were strong in early editions of the Paralympics but have since faded as a force. In recent editions, USA, Canada, Australia and Great Britain have been the predominant male nations, with Netherlands, Germany, USA and Australia powerful in the women’s.
The Netherlands women and USA men – looking for three Paralympic golds in a row – go into Paris as title holders.
Five stories to follow…
Can anyone stop the Dream Team?
USA wheelchair basketball is flying high. They won in both Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016, and showed that they will travel to France as favourites by lifting the most recent World Championships title, in 2022, too.
They’ve had a great rivalry with Great Britain’s men over recent years, and beat them in a dramatic 2022 World Championship final in Dubai.
“The best part of our team is our resilience,” said USA star Steve Serio. “The ability to play our best when the game gets the hardest. We were down at half-time [in the final against GB] we made some adjustments, putting us in a position to be successful.”
Dutch invincibles look to remain unbeatable
Netherlands women have been in outstanding form recently as they bid to retain their title © Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Much like the USA men, Netherlands’ women will be the side to topple in Paris. The Dutch won gold at Tokyo 2020, and have also won the last two World Championships, at Dubai 2022 and Hamburg 2018. They’ve also dominated recent European Championships.
One of their top offensive weapons is Mariska Beijer. “I am very happy, first, I was excited to make it to six finals in a row –Worlds, European Championships and Paralympics and then win the six titles in a row,” she said after the most recent Worlds win.
“This is unbelievable. We want to continue this winning momentum.” They are going to take a lot of stopping.
Japan shoot for Asia’s first wheelchair basketball Paralympic gold
Asia is yet to win a gold medal at the Paralympics games in either gender for wheelchair basketball. The closest a nation has come was Tokyo 2020, where the hosts lost a dramatic final to USA, 64-60.
It was agony for the Japanese team, but one of their stars, Renshi Chokai, is using the loss to power his 2024 dream. He has become a style icon in the process.
“Many athletes have been carrying Para sports on their backs,” he said. “My style was to be competitive, get more people to watch games and then build a fan base. Based on the history of Para sports, I want to establish the image of cool in this era.” He will no doubt dazzle again in France.
British powered by ‘Supermums’
Team GB are on the up, and they are driven by some remarkable women who juggle careers in elite sport with motherhood. Teammates and couple Robyn Love and Laurie Williams were fighting for the European title in 2023, less than five months after their daughter Alba was born.
“Being a parent, I think it grounds you and makes you realise what’s important,” said Love. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to show that mums can do it, parents can do it.”
France are back
France are hoping to continue their recent resurgence in men’s wheelchair basketball © Mark Madrid/Dubai Club for People of Determination
The Paris 2024 hosts have had some decent men’s wheelchair basketball teams over the years – they won gold in 1984, and bronze medals at 1976, 1988 and 1992. They’ve also had three World Championship silver medals, most recently in 2010.
The team then slumped for a decade – failing to qualify for the 2014 and 2018 Worlds, but have recently started to show signs of life again. Despite an early exit from the most recent World Championships, France put in some decent performances, and are keen to impress on home soil this summer.
“The team have been building up for the last two years for the World Championships, European Championships and the Paris 2024 Paralympics,” said head coach Karim El Guedda. “It’s a new team and hopefully the same players will play at the Paralympics. The preparation has been good.”
Source link : https://www.paralympic.org/news/paris-2024-usa-and-netherlands-seek-defend-wheelchair-basketball-titles
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Publish date : 2024-08-30 13:00:00
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