Liam McGarry feels small margins will be key as he sets his sights on gatecrashing the powerlifting podium at the Paralympics in Paris.
McGarry delivered two life-time best lifts when he finished fifth in the men’s over 107kgs category at the Para Powerlifting World Cup in Tbilisi last month to regain a top-eight Paralympics ranking.
The 27-year-old from Dartford – who was diagnosed with the neurological condition transverse myelitis, inflammation of the spinal cord, while a student at Bournemouth University – has been named in the ParalympicsGB squad which will head out to Paris later this summer.
McGarry has come through a testing spell since the end of last year as he battled a white blood cell disease which “absolutely ravaged” him, the prescribed medication meaning he was a lot more suspectable to muscle tears.
Given his additional health issues, it looked very much as if McGarry would not be able to fulfil his Paralympic dream, before those impressive lifts of 231kg and 232kg put him back on course for Paris.
“We got over the line, to a lot of people’s surprise, so those two kilos for a personal best were probably the biggest two kilos I have ever found in my career,” McGarry told the PA news agency.
“It has been a far from an ideal run up into my first Games, but that is just more testament to my character and my belief.
“I have made it to the Games, so now I sit here and say: ‘why can’t I go one step further?’
“Anything that is going to come across my path in Paris, I have already overcome much worse in tenfold – so now the delusional side of me has got his eyes on upsetting the medal party.”
McGarry – who had been a keen footballer and rugby player before his T12 spinal cord injury – finished fifth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where the overall scores took into account the lifter’s body weight.
That will not be the case in Paris and McGarry feels he can use his recent tough experiences to find those extra couple of kilos again which would put himself in the medal hunt.
“Our sport perfectly encapsulates the art of lifting a weight – a lot of people think ‘oh, you have just got to lift a weight up and down’,” said McGarry, who was introduced to the sport while he was at the Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury.
“But when they realise the scrutiny you are under with our rules (for a clean lift), they can see it is a completely different ball game.
“It is the small one per cents and as British athletes, with the infrastructure and with the teams that we have got, we are in a good position to capitalise on that with the different disciplines that we work on tirelessly every day and professionals we work with.”
McGarry added: “The main difference for me from then (at the Commonwealth Games) to now is knowing and actually believing what is possible.
“My journey has been hampered the whole way through different injuries and illnesses, but now I have gone through many processes which have given me the results I wanted.
“Now I both believe and know that I can put performances together, no matter what comes. I am a much more mature athlete now.
“I go into the into Paralympic Games knowing that I have done everything I possibly can to be there and I know that I will be ready to seize any opportunities when it comes to medals.”