Laura Sugar MBE
LAURA SUGAR
Para - Athletics / Para - Canoeing / Hockey
Laura was born with Talipes (club foot) in February 1991. She had a number of procedures and operations throughout her childhood to help correct her foot. She is now able to walk and run but with no movement in her ankle which makes her eligible for the Paralympics.
Laura’s parents were told that she would be fine and would lead a normal life as long as she didn’t want to be a sportsperson, saying she would not be able to do sport. With a real passion for sport however, Laura gave everything a go and her foot adapted well, enabling her to play sports. Laura’s focus was hockey throughout her latter school years until she watched London 2012 and saw some athletes with the same condition as her competing. Laura researched and realised that she too would be able to compete. She had always had a fond love of athletics but due to competing against able bodied athletes, she felt stronger at hockey and therefore pursued that. Laura was inspired by London 2012 and tried both cycling and athletics but athletics was where the real passion lay. Due to hockey training, Laura was fast tracked onto the Paralympic programme and she has never looked back! Her determination and willingness to accept new challenges secured her a Gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in canoeing.
Hockey
Laura grew up as a keen sports lover and played every sport possible, it was only at secondary school that she was introduced to hockey at a ‘pre-season’ session before starting school where she was delighted to be asked to join the school team. However, that weekend Laura was riding a friend’s horse which fell and landed on her, breaking her leg, resulting in a cast until Christmas.
A year later, Laura’s hockey career really began and she grew a love for it; working her way back up and eventually into the school team. She quickly progressed through to county and the East of England. Here, she was asked to trial for Wales.
Laura was selected for the Welsh U17 team and progressed through the age groups to U18, U21 and senior teams. She proudly captained her country at U21 level and gained 16 senior caps overall.
Hockey achievements:
European Indoor Silver medal (senior)
European Indoor 4th place (senior)
U18 & U21 European Championships
Selected for the Senior team to play in the World League tournament plus a number of test series.
Athletics
Soon after the 2012 Paralympics, Laura attended a Sports Fest in Guildford. From here, she was invited to a talent day at Loughborough University to try sprinting in January 2013. Although extremely nervous and out of her comfort zone, Laura gave it a go and really enjoyed it. She was soon asked onto the programme and was told she would be classified internationally in order to compete.
She has dedicated all of her spare time to athletics since this day, making the extremely difficult decision of leaving her hockey for this incredible opportunity!
Having completed at the Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016, Laura is currently ranked 2nd in the world so has made the decision to put her teaching career on hold to focus on training.
Athletics achievements
Double Bronze Medallist, European Championships (T44 100m and 200m) 2014
4th Place, European Championships (T44 Long Jump) 2014
4th & 5th Place, World Championships (T44 200m & 100m) 2013
Bronze Medal, IPC Grand Prix Finals (100m T43-47) 2013
Bronze medals, IPC Grand Prix Finals (100m T43-44) 2014
Current British Record Holder (60m Indoor, 100m and 200m)
Para - Canoe
Laura Sugar made an instant impact in paracanoe after an incredible debut season during 2019, accumulating three international medals.
Sugar's first international competition took place in a blustery Poznan, where she won a bronze medal in women's KL3 at the European Championships despite the extremely difficult conditions. In calmer waters, she backed up a strong showing in Poznan with a silver medal at the World Cup just days later.
Sugar capped off a wonderful debut season at the 2019 World Championships in Szeged, Hungary, where she won a second silver medal of the season in the women's KL3 final.
Joining the sport through the Talent ID process, Sugar started paddling in 2018 and has won numerous domestic races during her short time in the paracanoe.
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, Laura performed fantastically, winning a Gold medal and setting a new Paralympic record of 50.347 seconds. Laura won the 2022 World and European Championship Titles in KL3.
To understand Paralympic Classifications, click here..
To see Laura in the news following a school visit, click here.
To read more about Laura’s visit to Cranford School, click here to view an article in the Northants Telegraph.