Your ParalympicsGB September round up

Defending champions triumph at World Triathlon Para Championships

Dave Ellis, his guide Luke Pollard and fellow Brit Henry Urand all successfully defended their Para triathlon World Championship titles in Pontevedra, Spain.

Racing in the PTVI class, Dave and Luke were in fourth place at the halfway stage of the bike race, but they continued to close in on the leaders before hitting the front on the final lap of the run to take the win in 01:00:37. Victory took Dave’s tally of world titles to no fewer than nine. Oscar Kelly and guide Jack Huchens were unfortunately unable to finish after a mechanical problem with their bike.

Henry Urand won his third World Championship title in a row after a dominant performance which saw the 24-year-old start the run 90 seconds clear of the field in the men’s PTS3 race.

Lauren Steadman claimed bronze in the women’s PTS5 event, with Claire Cashmore in sixth place in her first World Championship since becoming a mother. Paris 2024 bronze medallist Hannah Moore had a strong swim in the women’s PTS4 race, exiting the water in second place, but a tough second half meant she crossed the finish line in fifth.

Wheelchair tennis: US Open and World Team cup victory for Hewett and Reid

Alfie Hewett saw off world number one Tokito Oda to claim his fifth US Open men’s singles title, ending the last major of 2026 as both singles and doubles champion after winning the doubles title in New York with his partner Gordon Reid a day earlier.

Alfie’s 6-0 7-6 (7-5) victory marked also denied Oda a clean sweep of Grand Slam singles titles in 2026.

A day earlier, Alfie and Gordon claimed their sixth US Open men’s wheelchair doubles title after defeating 2025 Wimbledon champions Martin de la Puente of Spain and Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands.

The pair came back from a set and a break down to win the last four games of the second set before winning the tie-break to claim a remarkable 26th Grand Slam title together and their first victory at Flushing Meadows since 2021.

In the juniors, Matthew Knoesen became the third Brit since 2022 to win the US Open boys’ wheelchair singles title before adding the boys’ doubles title later the same day.

Days later Alfie and Gordon teamed up with Ben Bartram and captain Martyn Whait where they added another win to their superb season, claiming the World Team Cup title for the fifth time with a 2-1 victory over defending champions Japan in the final of World Tennis’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event, the wheelchair equivalent of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. Despite losing his singles match to Oda, Alfie bounced back to win the doubles match alongside Gordon underlining just why the pair are ranked number one in the world.

World title for British boccia pair

Boccia’s world number one pairing Stephen McGuire and Sophie Newnham lived up to expectations with a gold medalling winning performance at the World Boccia Championships in Seoul.

The duo beat China in a tense BC4 Pairs final which saw the Brits take a 3-0 lead after two ends, before China came back strongly in the third to equalise. With everything to play for in the fourth end, 18-year-old World Championship debutant Sophie held her nerve to play the winning shots with her final ball ending up right on top of the jack.

Stephen – who won BC4 individual gold at Paris 2024 - and Sophie have been playing together for three seasons, winning gold at every tournament they entered in 2025, including the European Championships.

In the individual events, four out of the squad of eight British players reached quarter finals, with David Smith missing out on bronze in the semi-final of the men’s BC1 competition.

British judokas claim four fantastic World Championship medals in Georgia

Dan Powell, Evan Molloy, Jack Hodgson and Dan English all claimed podium places at the IBSA Judo World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia in September.

Defending champion Dan Powell faced Brazil’s Paralympic champion Arthur Cavalcante da Silva – the man that beat him to gold in Paris two years ago – in the men’s -95kg J1 final and in a hard fought battle it was the Brazilian who came out on top, with Dan securing the silver medal.

Evan added World bronze to the European silver he won earlier this year in the men’s -81kg J2 event, while there was bronze too for Jack Hodgson in the men’s +95kg J2.

Dan English claimed his first global medal with a terrific performance in the men’s +95kg J1 bronze medal match where he defeated the Paralympic champion to secure his place on the podium.

10 medals for Brits at UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships

The British team claimed 10 medals including three golds at the Para Cycling World Championships in Alabama, USA with Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl reclaiming the world title they last won in 2021. The pair won gold in the women’s tandem road race, edging out their Irish rivals in a sprint finish, and adding to the bronze they had earlier won in the women’s tandem time trial.

Callum Russell powered into the history books with gold in the men’s H4 event - the first British male hand-cyclist to win a world title, adding to the H4 time trial silver he had won two days earlier. Great Britain’s first rainbow jersey of the Championships had gone to Millie Cass in the women’s C2 time-trial on day two of the competition, with the 27-year-old adding bronze in the C2 road race on the final day.

Calum O’Neill claimed his first ever World Championship medal with silver in the men’s T2 time-trial, while Crystal Lane-Wright took bronze in the women’s C5 event.

In the road races, there was another bronze for Archie Atkinson in the men’s C4 event – the 22-year-old finished third in 2025 - while Felix Barrow also claimed third place in the men’s T2 race.

Bronze for GB men at Wheelchair basketball World Championships

The GB men’s wheelchair basketball team claimed bronze at the Ottawa 2026 World Championships with the GB women’s team just missing out on a medal, finishing in fourth place.

The men’s team enjoyed a dominant win over Paris 2024 bronze medallists Germany in their bronze medal match, winning 67-56. A brilliant comeback win against a fierce Japan side in the quarter-finals had sent the men through to the semi-finals but a defeat to Italy meant the team missed out on a place in the gold medal game which was won by Australia.

Gregg Warburton topped the scoreboard with 20pts while Phil Pratt had 16 assists. Lee Manning, Oscar Knight and Phil Pratt were joint game leaders on rebounds with 9 rebounds each.

Having won four of their five pool games, followed by an impressive 81-38 win over Germany, GB women faced a determined USA side in their semi-final clash, with the Paris 2024 silver medallists ultimately progressing to the gold medal game after winning 71-61. Up against the European and Paralympic champions the Netherlands in their bronze medal match, it was the Dutch team who came out on top winning 63-50 despite Robyn Love’s 15 point effort.

Gregg Warburton and Joy Haizelden were named in the All-Star Fives for their respective sides of the tournament.

Skelhon and Jeffrey finish in top 8 at Shooting World Championships

British shooters claimed three top eight finishes at the 2026 World Shooting Para Sport World Championships in South Korea.

Matt Skelhon finished 5th in the R3 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 after a tight final, with less than one point separating the top five after 18 shots and medal positions wide open. But it was Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova who went on to take the world title ahead of Korea’s Jinho Park and Ukraine’s Iryna Saltykova.

In the R6 50m Rifle Prone SH1 event Matt finished in seventh place with a score of 141.8.

Meanwhile Tim Jeffery produced a huge 638.0 in the R5 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2 qualification to book his place in the final, where he finished sixth overall.

Paralympians excel at Para Swimming European Championships

Great Britain’s Para swimmers claimed 21 medals including five golds at the European Championships in Kocaeli, Turkey.

Paralympic, world and Commonwealth champion Will Ellard continued his dominance of the men’s 200m freestyle S14 event, successfully defending his European title in a nail-biting finish - touching the wall just 0.11 seconds ahead of his rivals to win gold. The 20-year-old also added silver medals in the 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly S14, as well as bronze in the 200m individual medley SM14.

British swimmers achieved a clean sweep of the podium in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB14 with gold for Aaliyah Richards, silver for Olivia Newman-Baronius and bronze for Tara Beard.

In fact Olivia completed her own full set of medals, adding gold in the women’s 100m butterfly S14 and bronze in the breaststroke event. Poppy Maskill achieved a similar feat, winning gold in the women’s 100m backstroke, silver in the 200m individual medley and bronze in the 100m butterfly S14. The fifth gold for Great Britain was won by Quinn-Austin Kelly in the men’s 100m breaststroke SB14.

Silver medals for Bush and Truesdale at Para taekwondo Grand Prix

Paralympic champions Matt Bush and Amy Truesdale both secured silver medals at the Muju World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix Series in South Korea, losing out to the athletes they beat in the finals at Paris 2024 two years ago.

The Welshman was defeated 2-0 by Aliaskhab Ramazanov in the men’s K44 +80kg final while Uzbekistan’s Guljonoy Naimova took the win against Amy in the women’s K44 +65kg.

Eden Rainbow Cooper third in Berlin marathon

Eden Rainbow Cooper added another major marathon podium finish to her name for 2026, finishing third in Berlin to add to her win in Boston and second place finishes in Tokyo and Sydney. Fellow Briton Mel Woods, who won two golds on the track at the Commonwealth Games in July, finished in fourth.

Eden currently sits second in the Abbott World Marathon Majors series behind Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner, with the seventh and final race of the 2026 series – the Chicago marathon - taking place in October.