Great Britain might appear to be sitting pretty at the top of the medals table at the end of another Paralympic Games but two of their biggest stars have warned that the rest of the world “are coming for us”.
For the third successive Paralympics, the British team topped the standings after an impressive three days of competition.
This time, Great Britain finished with four golds and four silvers in an eight-strong medal haul that was double the number won by second-placed Brazil.
But Charlotte Henshaw and Laura Sugar insist that maintaining their grip on top spot is getting harder every four years as they look ahead to Los Angeles 2028.
“We aim to be the dominant force in Paracanoe,” said Henshaw who achieved gold medals in the women’s VL3 and women’s KL2 at Paris 2024.
“They had been before I came on the squad and we have been since I have been around.
“It’s a mantle that we are really proud of.
“The rest of the world are getting better and getting faster, they are coming for us but we really relish that challenge of staying in front.
“I think we are seeing the rewards for that, certainly at this competition and hopefully moving forward to LA.”
Sugar, who retained the women’s KL3 crown at Paris 2024, said: “There is strength in every category now and there are different countries topping each of those.
“We have all the continents here.
“I have been in a few different sports and it is one of the sports where it is truly multi-national.
“I don’t think you see that in many Paralympic sports.”
It was an historic Games for Paracanoe with Algeria’s Brahim Guendouz winning Africa’s first-ever Paralympic title in the sport.
Katherinne Wollerman also clinched a maiden gold for Chila, while China and New Zealand picked up their first-ever Paracanoe medal thanks to bronzes for Yongyuan Zhong and Peter Cowan respectively.
A total of 13 countries won medals with all five continents picking up at least one to underline the globalisation of the sport that first appeared on the Paralympic programme at Rio 2016.
Henshaw said the rise of Paracanoe in nations across the world keeps putting pressure on Great Britain to reach new heights.
“It’s so exciting to see the sport grow and see new faces and see new nations winning gold medals,” said Henshaw.
“I am very proud to play a very small part in the Paracanoe family.
“I came over from Para swimming in 2017 and the sport has continued to go from strength and strength.
“The races are a lot closer, there are more nationalities and there are different faces making the podium.
“As the leading nation, we are having to search for new ways to be at the front as we have been there for so long but it is getting harder to stay there and people are coming for us.
“It’s a challenge for us to keep that top step on the rankings.
“It’s a challenge that we relish and I think that’s where we do our best work when we are challenged to push on even more.”
Gender equality was achieved at Paris 2024 with 50 female and 50 male paddlers competing across 10 events.
The women’s VL3 was added to the programme with Henshaw capturing the title in Paris.
“We are immensely proud that we now have gender equality in terms of events,” said Henshaw.
“We would love to get the lower classes in the va’a.
“Hopefully that is the next step to grow the sport, so we can get the VL1s in.
“That is what is exciting about Paracanoe.
“It feels very established but certainly in the past eight years that I have been involved I have seen it grow and grow and grow and it feels like it’s becoming this real contender for those top Paralympic sports that have been around for years.”
Related links
