Wakefield Paralympic athletes claim gold and reach quarter final at Tokyo 2020

Wakefield's Paralympians claimed a gold and reached a quarter final at Tokyo 202.
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Jamie Stead, from Normanton, was part of the wheelchair rugby team that won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in the Mixed Tournament event, along with fellow Yorkshire players Gavin Walker and Jack Smith.

And wheelchair basketball player Sophie Carrigill's team reached the quarter finals, losing to China,

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It’s been a proud month for Great Britain, particularly for Yorkshire, at the games as the nationa finished second with 41 gold medals and a total medal tally of 124.

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 26: Jamie Stead #12 of Team Great Britain reaches for a loose ball ahead of Cody Everson #14 of Team New Zealand during the Wheelchair Rugby Pool Phase Group B game on day 2 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Yoyogi National Stadium on August 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 26: Jamie Stead #12 of Team Great Britain reaches for a loose ball ahead of Cody Everson #14 of Team New Zealand during the Wheelchair Rugby Pool Phase Group B game on day 2 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Yoyogi National Stadium on August 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 26: Jamie Stead #12 of Team Great Britain reaches for a loose ball ahead of Cody Everson #14 of Team New Zealand during the Wheelchair Rugby Pool Phase Group B game on day 2 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Yoyogi National Stadium on August 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

A total of 40 Yorkshire participants in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, eight of them won medals for Team GB.

Stead was born with cerebral palsy, a group of long-term conditions which affect the movement of your body and co-ordination.

This wasn’t the first time he competed in the Paralympics as he competed in the Rio 2016 Summer Paralympics where his team came in fifth place.

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Stead played with teams that came in first place at the European Championship events in 2015 and 2017.

Team GB Wheelchair Basketball Player Sophie Carrigill trains at home on June 09, 2020 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)Team GB Wheelchair Basketball Player Sophie Carrigill trains at home on June 09, 2020 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
Team GB Wheelchair Basketball Player Sophie Carrigill trains at home on June 09, 2020 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

This was his first medal in the Paralympics.

Paralympics GB praised the women's wheelchair basketball team "commendable" performence in the 47-33 loss to China.

It said: "The partnership of Amy Conroy and Sophie Carrigill started to shine as they created plenty of opportunities but China’s scoring was too consistent as they went into half-time 27-14 ahead."

Elsewhere in West Yorkshire 29-year-old wheelchair racer Hannah Cockroft, from Halifax, won gold on August 29 in the Women’s 100m T34 final race at the games.

And 30-year-old parasport sprinter and cyclist Kadeena Cox, from Leeds, won two gold medals in the Women’s 500m time trial C4-5 on August 27 and in the Mixed 750m team sprint C1-5 on August 28.