Invictus Games: Gold for Great Britain’s wheelchair basketballers
Delvin Maston (left) of the USA and Andrew McErlean (centre) of Great Britain in action in the Wheelchair Basketball final (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire) - Credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images
The roof of the Copper Box was well and truly raised tonight as Great Britain enjoyed a second victory over the USA in as many days.
The Great Britain team celebrating their Gold medals after defeating USA in the Wheelchair Basketball match, at the Copper Box Arena (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire) - Credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images
Following on from their closely-contested final in wheelchair rugby last night, victories over France and Denmark in the semi-finals pitched the two teams together once more to battle it out in the wheelchair basketball final.
But it could not have been any more different as the British team romped to a convincing 19-9 win over their American counterparts.
Former air trooper Lee Matthews, 26, took up the sport following an accident which left him with nerve damage.
He said: “They said it was sold out but I never really expected it to be like this.
Lee Matthews with his gold medal - Credit: Archant
“It’s brilliant to have this amount of support.”
The packed Copper Box cheered every moment, with one young fan having an extra special memento from his day at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
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USA player Delvin Maston handed the boy his shirt after the match, and hopes the youngster will be inspired by it as he grows up.
He said: “That kid was standing up all the way and he stood up the game before; he was immense.
“There’s going to come a time where he’s going to have some kind of adversity.
“If he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do he can always look at that jersey and say I saw some guys overcome adversity.”
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