| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Louise Sugden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 July 1984 Newbury, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Great Britain  England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wheelchair Basketball and Powerlifting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paralympic finals | 2008 2012 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Louise Sugden is a British powerlifter and former international wheelchair basketball player.
Sugden was born in Newbury. She started playing wheelchair basketball at age 13.
She competed in 6 European championships, winning bronze in five of them. She brought home a gold from the 2011 Paralympic World Cup. [1] She competed in the Beijing and London Paralympic Games. [2] She retired from international competition in 2016, then from the sport as a whole in 2017.
In 2017 she started Para powerlifting. Nine months after starting in the sport, she won a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. [3] She was due to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games but withdrew due to a shoulder injury. [4]
At the 2020 Paralympic Games, Sugden won powerlifting bronze in the women's 86 kg category, securing the medal with her final lift. The Newbury lifter successfully made 131 kg in the last round to claim the bronze. [5]
Sugden was a guest on The Last Leg of Tokyo 2020 a few hours after landing in London.
Paralympic powerlifting, also known as para powerlifting and para-lifting, is an adaptation of the sport of powerlifting for athletes with disabilities. The only discipline in Paralympic powerlifting is the bench press. The sport is governed by the International Paralympic Committee and is open to anyone with a minimum level of disability who can extend their arms within 20° of full extension during a lift. Powerlifting has been competed at the Summer Paralympics since 1984.
Lucy Ogechukwu Ejike is a Nigerian Paralympic powerlifter. She has represented her country at six consecutive Paralympic Games from 2000 in Sydney through to 2021 in Tokyo. She has won medals at each, three gold, two silver and one bronze. She won a further silver medal at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth games women's lightweight category of the Para Powerlifting event behind compatriot Esther Oyema.
Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The country finished third in the medals table, behind China and Russia, winning 120 medals in total; 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze. Multiple medallists included cyclist Sarah Storey and wheelchair athlete David Weir, who won four gold medals each, and swimmer Stephanie Millward who won a total of five medals. Storey also became the British athlete with the most overall medals, 22, and equal-most gold medals, 11, in Paralympic Games history.
Madison de Rozario, is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair racer who specialises in middle and long-distance events. She competed at the 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics, winning two gold medals, three silver and a bronze. She has also won ten medals at the World Para Athletics Championships and four gold at the Commonwealth Games. De Rozario holds the world record in the Women's 800m T53 and formerly in the Women's 1500m T53/54.
Angela Ballard is an Australian Paralympic athlete who competes in T53 wheelchair sprint events. She became a paraplegic at age 7 due to a car accident.
Brian Frederick McNicholl, OAM is a New Zealand-born Australian Paralympic powerlifter, weightlifter, wheelchair basketballer, and athlete, who won five medals at six Paralympic games from 1976 to 1996.
Deahnne Mary McIntyre, OAM is an Australian former Paralympic athletics competitor and one of few Australian female powerlifters. She won four medals in the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games in athletics, and competed in powerlifting from 2000 until her retirement from the sport in January 2011.
Julie Elizabeth Russell is an Australian Paralympic athlete, powerlifter and wheelchair basketballer.
Darren Gardiner is an Australian Paralympic powerlifter. He has won two Paralympic silver medals in the Men's Over 100 kg powerlifting event. He did not medal at the 2012 Games.
Ramon (Ray) Gary Epstein, is an Australian Paralympic weightlifter and powerlifting coach. He represented Australia in weightlifting at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Paralympics and was Head Coach of the Australian Paralympic powerlifting team between 2003 and 2013.
Farman Basha is an Indian powerlifter. Basha represented India at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom. He won a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China. However, this was later upgraded to a silver medal after Iranian Mustafa Radhi was disqualified due to doping.
Zoe Newson is a British powerlifter. She is a one-time silver and two-time bronze medalist at the Summer Paralympics and she won the silver medal in her event at the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships.
Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta is a Filipina retired Paralympic powerlifter. She became the first Filipina to win a Paralympic medal ever when she won bronze at the 2000 Summer Paralympics.
Fatma Omar is an Egyptian powerlifter competing in the -56 kg category. She is a dominant power in her sport, winning gold in her event in four Summer Paralympics, and another four gold medals at the IPC Powerlifting World Championships.
Conrat Frederic Atangana is a Paralympian from Cameroon who represented his country at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in powerlifting's men's -56 kg event.
British Weight Lifting (BWL) is a trading name of the British Weight Lifters' Association Ltd (BWLA), the National Governing Body (NGB) in the United Kingdom for the sports of weightlifting and para powerlifting. The Association was initially established in 1910. From 1911 to 2003 its name was the British Amateur Weight Lifters' Association (BAWLA); and in 1957, it was incorporated as a limited company.
Olivia Broome is a para powerlifter who won a bronze medal in the under-50 kg events at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Paralympics. She is the British and world junior record holder in the under-50 kg event, and has won multiple Para Powerlifting World Cup medals. She also won the junior under-50 kg event at the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships, silver medal in the women's 50 kg event, and a silver medal in the lightweight event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Herbert Aceituno is a Salvadoran Paralympic powerlifter of short stature. He is a bronze medalist at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan, a silver medalist at the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia and a gold medalist at the 2019 Parapan American Games held in Lima, Peru.
Besra Duman is a Turkish Paralympian para powerlifter who competes in the 55 kg division. She won the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
Sibel Çam is a Turkish Paralympic powerlifter who competes in the -73 kg division.
