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Swishes do come true (Sophie Carrigill)
After Sophie Carrigill learnt anything was possible, there was no stopping her …
Sophie Carrigill is a GB wheelchair basketball star, a world and European silver medallist and an ambassador for women’s activewear brand Sweaty Betty.
As an elite athlete, Sophie takes her platform seriously, working hard through her social media channels to help promote the meaningful values that lie at the heart of who she is. When Sweaty Betty got in touch, it provided the perfect opportunity.
“The more consistently you work on getting your brand out there, the more often you get a chance to talk about the things that are important such as diversity and inclusivity,” explains Sophie. “I’m super excited to be working with a brand that is passionate about representing every woman – and whose values perfectly align with my own.”
From values to moments of inner reflection, this past few years has been steeped in learning for the 30-year-old who has been spinal cord injured since she was 16. If it has taught her anything, it’s that rest time from a gruelling training schedule is as important as those hours spent on shooting drills or perfecting passes.
In preparing for her third Paralympics, she has embraced the downtime, which plays a crucial part in an elite athlete’s training and ultimate performance. For Sophie, the enforced time away from the court during the pandemic allowed her to engage with every aspect of herself as an athlete and brought with it permission to rest.
“I had moments to take time for myself. Resting is as important as training,” Sophie says. “I’d enjoy going out for a push and listening to podcasts. And the team had weekly virtual meetups when staff put on sessions like yoga for us – it was great to stay connected.”
That holistic approach to training certainly helped with the mental preparations too. But is getting into that mindset simply about focusing on what your competitors are doing? And after being denied bronze at the hands of the Netherlands at Rio 2016, they went in to Tokyo determined and confident to come home with a medal. “All the teams are strong at this level and there’s no easy games,” Sophie says.
Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for the British Wheelchair Basketball women’s team as they lost to China in the quarter finals. In Paris they will be going again, and Sophie will be captaining the team as they aim a medal on the Paralympic stage.
Sport has always been part of Sophie’s life. But after waking up from a coma following a car accident while on holiday in the United States, she didn’t need to be told she wouldn’t walk again; she just knew. She wondered if sport would ever mean the same to her again.
It did. After a two-month stay in a US hospital, Sophie returned to Pinderfields Hospital in her hometown of Wakefield, west Yorkshire, to continue rehab. Raised by parents who’d instilled the ethic of putting in the graft to achieve things, Sophie found a gutsy mental attitude laid the foundations for her recovery.
Pivotal moments peppered Sophie’s journey, not least the one that came a year after her accident when she took part in an outward-bound course with Back Up and attended the WheelPower Inter Spinal Unit Games.
“I didn’t know how sure I was about accepting my new identity, but these experiences changed the way I felt about myself and other disabled people,” says Sophie. “I learnt that anything is possible; you just have to accept that you will have to do it a little differently.”
‘I realised sport was what was missing from my life – it’s a part of my soul’. So I decided to give wheelchair basketball a go. I was terrible at it, but I kept going back to the local club and sticking at it.
“I was on the baby court to begin with because I didn’t have the skills to compete with many of the other players but watching them gave me strength and determination.”
Invigorated by this new direction and purpose, Sophie continued to improve, building skills and stamina and working her way to the top. Before long, she was scouted by GB coaches and became part of the Paralympic Inspiration programme that took her to London 2012 and courtside at the quarterfinals against Germany – another pivotal moment.
“I watched the GB girls play and miss out,” Sophie recalls. “Being at that game changed everything. Every decision I made after that was around basketball. I decided I was going to give it my all to become a basketball player.”
As far as big moments go, it doesn’t get much bigger than that. It’s just shy of 10 years since Sophie made that commitment. She has continued to defy expectations and obliterate the boundaries around being a disabled athlete, laying a pathway for all who come after her.
Photos: @ParalympicsGB
Story first published in FORWARD Autumn 2021 (Updated: August 2024)
This story appeared in previous issue of our magazine FORWARD. The only magazine dedicated to the spinal cord injury community. With fascinating and thought-provoking lifestyle features and the latest news and research, the high-quality publication covers topics such as health, daily living, employment, relationships and family, sport and travel.
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