Jade Loughlin racing against time to make Paris 2024

By James Reid, Sportsbeat

Bristol wheelchair basketball star Jade Loughlin admits she faces a race against time to make it to next summer’s Paris Paralympics.

Loughlin, 29, plays in the Women’s Premier League for Worcester Wolves and harbours aspirations of representing Great Britain next year, but is currently unable to compete internationally due to issues with her classification.

Loughlin was paralysed from the waist down over a decade ago following a martial arts accident, but does not have an exact medical diagnosis for her condition, meaning she is unable to be properly classified.

It means her dreams of representing her country are currently on hold, but she is still hopeful of making it over the English Channel in time.

“If I can get my classification sorted and it all goes through fine, I am aiming for Paris,” said Loughlin, who has been selected to be part of Aldi’s Rising Stars programme, an initiative with SportsAid that provides talented young athletes with financial support, recognition and personal development opportunities.

“It is very short-term, but who doesn’t have a dream and a hope? If not, definitely Los Angeles in 2028,” she added.

“When I had my accident, a lot of issues were blamed on CRPS [complex regional pain syndrome] but although I had that, it didn’t cause issues such as paralysis from the waist down.

“We don’t have the full diagnosis, so it requires a consultant to look at what is going on, write a letter and submit it to IWBF [International Wheelchair Basketball Federation].

“It is very frustrating, but we just have to play it how it is and hopefully get it done in time.”

Each athlete on the Rising Stars programme, which was launched with SportsAid last year, receives funding to help towards costs such as travel, accommodation, equipment and nutrition, with Aldi also delivering workshop sessions on a range of topics to help nurture athletes for their sporting endeavours and beyond.

This includes top tips on healthy eating and performance nutrition, restful sleep, managing mental wellbeing, social media training and working with the media.

In addition, the talented young athletes, who have been nominated to SportsAid by the governing bodies of their respective sports, play a key role in the promotion of the supermarket’s ‘Get Set to Eat Fresh’ programme, which aims to educate children on the importance of a healthy diet.

To date this partnership has reached over 2.2 million young people with a target to educate an extra one million children by the end of 2024.

Loughlin travels from her Bristol base to both Coventry and Worcester to train each week, balancing her time on court with her job as a ward manager and administrator in the NHS.

The 29-year-old’s relationship with the sport runs deep, having first tried it out after the 2012 London Paralympics at a difficult time in her life as she struggled to come to terms with her limitations following her accident.

“I used to do martial arts; I was doing a demonstration, and unfortunately there was a chair left on the side of the mat. I took a tumble, fell onto the chair, another person fell onto me, I fractured my ankle and hit my back,” she added.

“From there, six months later I got progressively worse with paralysis and numbness and then one morning I couldn’t walk. It has been horrendously difficult, I wish no one would go through this.

“At that point, the build up to the Paralympics in London, I realised there was something there for me – it just needed to be shown.

“I fell back in love with sport, I saw wheelchair basketball and absolutely loved it. From the get-go I was hooked and that was it; it has changed my life.”

Aldi is the Official Supermarket Partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB and have partnered with Team GB since 2015, ParalympicsGB since 2022 and will be supporting them through to Paris 2024