BU graduate Liam McGarry is set to compete at his first Paralympic Games, after qualifying for the men's para-powerlifting finals.
Liam joined Bournemouth University to study Sports Psychology and Coaching, and was part of the rugby team at BU. While at university in 2017, Liam was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis – inflammation of the spinal chord – leading to the discovery of para powerlifting.
Since graduating in 2020, Liam’s powerlifting career has gone from strength-to-strength, despite continued health issues, leading to 31 different operations, which have not hampered his passion and desire to succeed in the sport he loves.
Starting as an unfunded athlete, Liam entered the world-class programme in 2021, competing in the World Championships in November 2021, setting a British record of a 220-kilo lift, making Liam top six in the world. Despite injury setbacks, Liam’s success continued into the Commonwealth Games, which Liam qualified for off the back of his World Championship performance, an event that Liam describes as the “best night of my life”.
At the following World Championships in Dubai, Liam achieved a lift of 230 kilos, securing a top eight world qualifying spot before another two peck tears and the diagnosis of a white blood cell disease threatened to halt Liam’s preparation for the Paralympic Games. At the final qualifying event in Georgia, Liam lifted two lifetime personal bests of 231 and 232 kilos respectively to qualify in 7th for the Paris Games.
Liam said, “I managed to pull something out of somewhere that allowed me to qualify in seventh for the Paralympic Games. When I came off the platform and looked to my Performance Director full of tears and emotion and he just turned around to me and said, ‘That is one of the biggest sets of minerals I've ever seen.’ He had all the faith in the world in me, otherwise he wouldn't have taken me there. It has put me in the position where I am now to hopefully be tearing up Paris in the next week”.
Liam’s journey has been one of overcoming adversity, from an initial diagnosis that changed his life, through the injuries and operations along the way; but Liam has refused to give up. He said, “I was adamant on being the guy that qualified, despite what he's been through rather than the geezer that didn't qualify because of what he's been through. for me, nothing can be harder than what I experienced in June 2017 when my whole life changed.
“It's impossible for me to throw in a towel because whatever is standing in my way becomes the way. I've got a purpose so strong now and it just makes me unbreakable. That's sort of the reason I've accepted why I'm on the earth to show people what's possible, to show people the limits of what a human can push themselves to and what a what a human can endure whilst also trying to achieve some greatness. So I just think that's my purpose in life. I've accepted that.”
The lessons learned during his degree are still paying off and helping with Liam’s preparations for the Games. Liam continued, “I still remember the support I was given by Emma Kavanagh [Liam’s lecturer], and she still supports me now from afar. She introduced me to something called positive psychology, which is something I’ve always tried to carry through my sport, and there’s things such as pre-performance routines that I try to incorporate. I try to implement as much as I can from the course. There's so much I’ve got to thank Bournemouth for and there's so much that the course gave me.
“After my injury, my dissertation was all about how sport aids psychological recovery and life post-life-changing injury. My journey is to try and show people that there is a better life out there for people who are struck with life changing injuries and circumstances that completely turn their lives upside down.”
Speaking of his chances ahead of his first Paralympic Games, Liam said, “I think the greatest achievement is making the Games, because not only have I done it within seven years of having a life-changing injury and at my first attempt, but I’ve also done it having has 31 surgeries in a three-year cycle.
“I'm a I'm a little rugged character from Dartford with a massive heart, if the chance arises, I'll make sure I'm in the best possible shape to put my name in the mix and I'll be putting pressure on all the big boys to make sure they're at the top of their a game and they know that there's a young kid with a massive heart snapping at their heels if they're not.”
The men’s para powerlifting for over 107kg takes place on 8th September and can be watched on Channel 4, with more information on the Olympics website.
