Yorkshire duo switch focus to LA2028 after missing out on wheelchair rugby Paris medal

NEAR-MISS: GB's Nick Cummins gives the ball to Great Britain's Jamie Stead during the wheelchair rugby bronze medal match between Australia and Great Britain Picture: AP/Aurelien Morissard

TWO Yorkshire wheelchair rugby players narrowly missed out on a medal at the Paralympics.

Rotherham's Gavin Walker and Normanton's Jamie Stead, pictured, finished fourth as part of ParalympicsGB in Paris, going down 50-48 to Australia in the bronze medal match.

GB fell short of the podium in defence of their title with gold in Tokyo, their first and still only medal in the sport.

“We go into another rebuilding process, another four years ahead of us and looking towards LA now,” said captain Walker, who is part of Aldi’s Nearest and Dearest programme in partnership with ParalympicsGB, helping to maximise support and minimise potential distractions for athletes so that they can focus on their performance.

“Growing the sport, putting time into grassroots and developing the team going forward.

“For fans out there and people who are watching this, we’re all playing this sport after starting life with a disability or going through some sort of traumatic injury.

“The fact that any athlete in the Paralympics is competing shows they’ve overcome adversity and everyone should be proud of any performance.

“I guess that’s the main message for anyone out there that is struggling – this is something that can get you out of those dark times.”

A series of turnovers went Australia’s way in the closing stages and with Ryley Batt scoring 28 tries in 32 minutes, the London 2012 and Rio 2016 champions returned to the podium.

GB scoring was led by Stuart Robinson, who scored 28 tries.

“In the end there were too many errors really in the game,” said Walker. “We finished it with a timeout and that could have stopped the turnover in our favour, so the better team beat us on the day.”

Britain began their bid to go back-to-back with a narrow 58-55 win over Australia before downing Denmark 55-53 and silencing a partisan Parisian crowd by beating France by a single point.

But they came unstuck against Chuck Aoki’s Team USA, who put on a powerful performance to win 50-43 and leave GB fighting for a place on the podium.

In the last three years, GB have clung on to their place at the top table with successive silvers at an increasingly competitive European Championships sandwiching seventh place at a difficult 2023 World Championships.

“If you’d have asked me two years ago, I’d have probably snatched your hand off for the experience of playing for a bronze medal,” said Walker.

“The team and what we’ve managed to develop over the years has been outstanding and I’m really proud of getting to this stage and the performances we’ve put in.”

Dave Ellis powered to triathlon glory before Megan Richter grabbed another gold for Great Britain.

Visually-impaired Ellis, whose Tokyo 2020 ambitions were derailed by a snapped bike chain, claimed the men’s PTVI3 title in Paris by crossing the line alongside guide Luke Pollard in 58 minutes and 41 seconds. Success for the 38-year-old was swiftly followed by Richter winning the women’s PTS4 event.