By Graham Thomas
Stephen McGuire has spent much of his career trying to reach the summit of boccia in BC4.
Now, the Scottish Great Britain athlete arrives at the Seoul 2026 World Championships as the player everyone else is trying to knock off it.
Known simply as “Steph” within the boccia community, McGuire heads into the August 2 to September 4 championships as world number one, having established himself as the dominant force in the men’s BC4 classification since winning Paralympic gold in Paris in 2024.
The official world rankings list him first in the category and by a convincing margin.
But the 42-year-old believes the biggest change since Paris has not necessarily been technical.
It has been more physical and psychological.
“I think it’s down to the work that I’ve been doing off court, away from it,” McGuire says of his ability to dominate in the sport for the past two years.
“I’ve been doing a lot of psychology work, I’ve been doing a lot with my coach and a lot of physical maintenance.
“It’s all come together when we go on court, so it’s worked well.”
That work has helped McGuire turn the long-awaited achievement of becoming Paralympic champion into the beginning of a new phase of his career rather than its conclusion.
Great Britain performance coach Glynn Tromans believes the Paris triumph of two years gave McGuire something that had previously been missing: an aura.
“Steph has been playing for a long, long time and finally got to the point of being Paralympic champion in Paris, having had three fourth places — a couple individually and a couple in the pairs as well. He had always just missed out on that,” says Tromans.
“Being Paralympic champion maybe gives you that confidence and that little bit of an aura. It makes other people treat you differently because they think, ‘Oh, this is Stephen McGuire.’”
McGuire’s record since Paris suggests that confidence has been well founded.
He won double gold at the 2025 European Championships, taking the individual title before teaming up with Sophie Newnham to win the BC4 pairs competition.
His form has continued into 2026, culminating in another impressive individual victory in Portugal at the Povoa 2026 World Boccia Cup recently, shortly before the World Championships.
“I was delighted,” he says.
“I’ve been coming to Portugal for 16 years now. I think it was my 16th year that I’ve been there and I love it. They call it the home of boccia for a reason. I’ve got great memories there.
“I won my first Europeans on that court way back in 2009, and it’s great to still be able to compete. I love the event.”
McGuire’s latest success was particularly significant because of the timing. Seoul has been the target for months and the result strengthened his ranking position ahead of the championships.
“The World Championships is what we’re all geared up for. That’s going to be in Seoul this year, so I’m really looking forward to that,” he adds.
“The win in Portugal helped my ranking, so just to be up there near the top, that will help for the seedings.”
He certainly does not need reminding that he will be the man to beat.
Tromans believes McGuire actually relishes that responsibility.
“I think Steph has two things going for him. One, he’s such a great player and, while he’s there to be shot at by the others, I think he secretly quite enjoys being the top dog who everybody’s after.
“People become scared of playing against him.”
That presents a different psychological challenge to the one McGuire faced earlier in his career.
Having spent years trying to win the biggest titles, he must now maintain the hunger and concentration required to defend his position at the top.
“Once you get to the very top of the pinnacle of your sport, you think, ‘Well, I’m at the top. There’s nowhere to go.’ But actually, there is somewhere to go. You can go sideways or you can find another peak. You need the motivation to do that,” said Tromans.
For McGuire, there is still plenty left to achieve.
His career already includes individual world gold in 2016 and European titles in 2017 and 2021, while Paris finally delivered the Paralympic gold medal that had eluded him after previous appearances at London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
His route back to the top has not been straightforward. A serious knee and femur injury in 2022 required major surgery, but McGuire’s determination to complete his rehabilitation enabled him to return to international competition.
He subsequently rebuilt his form and entered Paris having already shown signs that he was approaching his best, winning silver at the Montreal World Cup and gold in Sao Paulo before receiving a late invitation to the Paralympic squad.
He took his opportunity.
Now the challenge is to prove that Paris was not an isolated peak.
Tromans says the latest victory in Portugal has strengthened McGuire’s belief that he can overcome any opponent in Seoul.
“Steph will gain confidence going into Seoul that he can beat anybody by winning here.”
There is also the added incentive of the pairs competition, where McGuire and Sophie Newnham have already established themselves as one of the world’s strongest combinations.
“He’s also motivated by the pairs with Sophie, and I think individually for a pair, they are a tremendous partnership,” said Tromans.
The World Championships are the flagship event of the season, and McGuire is approaching them with the confidence of a Paralympic champion, the ranking of the world’s best player and the belief that his work away from the court has made him better on it.
“I can’t wait for Seoul. The World Championships is our flagship event, so it’ll be fantastic.”
Nor is McGuire the only hugely experienced British player with eyes on the prize in Seoul.
Double former Paralympic individual BC1 champion David Smith has been away from the podium at major global championships lately, but sounds like a man with a mission.
He says: “I’m going to Seoul to win gold and I don’t mind being brash about it. Anything less and I’ll be disappointed. In fact, my aim is to win back the triple crown.
“I have made some changes and we’re still making tweaks. When I’m playing well, I’m flying. I hit 95% accuracy in my first pool game in Povoa.
“But sometimes it does feel like two steps forward, one step back. I just need to stick to the process and sometimes, be pragmatic and just get the job done – even if it’s not pretty!”
