Louise Sugden is a British powerlifter and former international wheelchair basketball player.

Wheelchair Basketball

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. She competed in the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. She retired from international competition in 2016, then from the sport as a whole in 2017.

Powerlifting

In 2017 she started

Para powerlifting 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 th ...

. Nine months after starting in the sport, she won a silver medal at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. She was due to compete at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

but withdrew due to a shoulder injury. At the

2020 Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralymp ...

, 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. Sugden was a guest on The Last Leg of Tokyo 2020 a few hours after landing in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugden, Louise British powerlifters Powerlifters at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Paralympic powerlifters for Great Britain Living people British female weightlifters Female powerlifters Commonwealth Games medallists in powerlifting Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England 1984 births Powerlifters at the 2020 Summer Paralympics British women's wheelchair basketball players Wheelchair basketball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics 21st-century British women Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games