Larne woman Claire Taggart seys sights on medal at December's World Boccia Championships in Brazil

The Larne native represented Great Britain in 2016 and again at the delayed games in Tokyo in the summer of 2021.

After winning her first medals on the world cup circuit earlier this year Taggart retained her British Championship in Swansea and has her sights set on adding to her medal collection at the world championships, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro starting on December 3.

Taggart sits second in the women's BC-2 rankings and is entering the World Championships having picked up two gold medals on this year's World Cup circuit.

She won the individual BC-2 event and the team discipline, along with David Smith and Will Hipwell, in Povoa de Varzim in Portugal.

“I am delighted to retain my title of UK Boccia BC2 Champion, especially as it is an event close to my heart and where I was first spotted by Boccia UK back in 2014,” she said.

"The hard work will continue though, as I am now training to compete at the World Boccia Championships.

“I won my first ever World Cup medal earlier this year and am really looking forward to having another opportunity to compete on the world stage in the biggest event of the boccia calendar outside of the Paralympic Games.

“Previously, I would have played against the men, but World Boccia has introduced separate individual competitions for men and women,” Taggart added.

“I’m hoping that this will drive participation among women and girls in the sport. It’s also an exciting prospect because we now have more medal opportunities as a team.”

Taggart will be joined on the plane to Brazil by her Northern Irish compatriot Robyn McBride, with the pair part of a nine-strong great Britain squad.

McBride made her Great Britain debut earlier in the year and returned to Co Antrim with two medals from the Veldhoven 2022 World Boccia Challenger tournament in August.

Competing in the B3 Classification, McBride won a bronze medal in the Women’s Individual competition and along with partner Will Arnott won a silver medal in the pairs event.

McBride is ranked 24 in the world and will be supported at the upcoming world championships in December by her ramp operator Davy McBride.

“It has been a very successful year for Claire and Robyn and it is great to see such a strong female representative from Northern Ireland on the World stage,” said Disability Sport NI Boccia Performance Pathway Officer Terry Conroy

“Everyone involved in boccia in Northern Ireland will all look forward to cheering Claire and Robyn on as they progress to the World Boccia Championships, making history competing in the first ever female only competitions.

“It was also fantastic to see Daniel Elliot make his debut representing Northern Ireland at UK level as he competed at the recent UK Boccia Championships with support from his father and ramp operator Billy Elliot,” Conroy added.