Phil Pratt could only take his hat off to better team after nail-biting wheelchair basketball defeat

By Megan Armitage in Paris

Phil Pratt could only take his hat off to the better team after missing out on a historic wheelchair basketball gold medal at Paris 2024.

ParalympicsGB fought back from 12 points down but succumbed to 73-69 defeat to the USA in a pulsating final, unable to prevent the legendary American side from making it three titles on the trot.

Pratt captained the team to their first silver medal in the sport since Atlanta 1996 and commended those who came before them as paving the way to reaching the final for the first time in 28 years.

""It's tough," said Pratt, 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.

"They are a hell of a team and Steve Serio was incredible, he's one of the greatest to ever play the game. We challenged him to shoot and he came out firing.

"We stuck to our gameplan but they were the better team.

"It doesn't change anything, the work that's gone into this, the legends of the game paving the way and giving us this platform to express ourselves, I am proud of our guys.

"USA were the better team, hats off to them. It sucks but we’ll be back.”

A mighty 71-43 win over Germany snapped a streak of six successive semi-final losses, the emphatic margin of victory and manner of performance fuelling hope that they could go one better for gold.

In the final, the defensive hustle of Lee Manning, one of the tallest players in the game at 6ft 4in, helped keep his side in touch as he pulled down eight rebounds in the first half alone.

But even after a last ditch attempt, with seven time Paralympian Terry Bywater coming on to try and clinch a final minute three-pointer, it was not enough to overcome the power of the USA.

Manning said: "That was difficult. We gave everything we could. There were mistakes along the way.

"I'm sure there are things I can look back at the video and go, 'Oh, I wish I could do that better. That's where we lost the game'.

"At least in the moment, we can say that we gave everything we could. Could we have done it better? Yes.

After winning bronze at Beijing, Rio and Tokyo, the team finally upgraded in the French capital and admitted that there will always still be pride in the performance.

Manning added: "I'm immensely proud. It's not the medal I wanted, but it's still one I will cherish."

Aldi are proud Official Partners of Team GB & ParalympicsGB, supporting all athletes through to Paris 2024.