Laurie Williams takes silver linings from Paralympic exit in Paris

By Milly McEvoy at Bercy Arena

Laurie Williams was able to reflect positively on her return to the Paralympic stage even as it ended in quarterfinal defeat.

As part of the women’s wheelchair basketball team, she suffered a narrow 59-52 defeat to the USA to see GB’s campaign for a first medal fall short.

However, Altrincham native Williams was proud to be part of the side just over a year after giving birth to her first child.

“I’ve absolutely loved it, I tried really hard to get here. I’ve got a little girl who is not even one and a half yet,” said Williams, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

“Getting back after pregnancy and those early months of motherhood are challenging but being here is an accomplishment in itself.

“There is a lot of work between being an athlete and a mother but she is a big motivator for me.

“I have a lot to reflect on really, to come to a Paralympics with a small baby isn’t easy and she is here watching so what an incredible experience for her as well.

“She gets to be able to say, I was this young and I got to watch my mums compete at a Paralympics, that’s pretty awesome.”

Jade Atkin made an impact of from the start, scoring the first points of the game, but the rebounds of Becca Murray and Ixhelt Gonzalez were constant threat at both ends of the court.

With the half-time break closing in, the USA scored six straight points to hold a seven-point advantage after the second quarter.

The third quarter saw GB again pull themselves back into the contest, only for captain Murray to help stretch the lead out again for the US with two crucial rebounds.

ParalympicsGB were not done yet with Jade Atkin’s return to the court signalling the beginning of the fight back to close the deficit to just three points at with 10 minutes remaining.

Great Britain then returned to the lead for the first time since the beginning of the match and held a one-point lead as they forced the USA into a shot clock violation.

The two sides traded points and the lead as the clock ticked down before the USA showed their nouse to eke out the narrow win.

She added: “I think it is everything we could have hoped for apart from that win, I do think we performed our best basketball.

“We took the lead in the last few minutes and we couldn’t quite hold onto it so it is a tough pill to swallow.

“I do think we can exit with our heads held high. The crowd were fantastic, all of our support were.

“Obviously, it is disappointing to the people at home and us and the coaches who have all worked so whole.”

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