Day four of the Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo brought a medal rush which included the first gold medal of the games and a new world record.
Cycling
Scotland’s first gold medal of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games was to come at the Izu Velodrome. Scotland’s Neil Fachie MBE was aiming to secure a third successive Paralympic medal in the Men’s B 1,000 metres Time Trial event, following his gold at London 2012 and silver at Rio 2016. Neil, along with pilot Matthew Rotherham, set a world record time of 58.038sec in the final, lowering the mark of 59.278 the pair had set back in 2019. This time was sufficient to secure gold, with fellow Scot Lewis Stewart piloting James Ball to the silver in a time of 59.503.
Following his world record breaking race, Neil commented;
“You’re always aspiring for the perfect race, and it’s something you never achieve but I feel like that was pretty damn close,”
“I knew we were fast, the bike felt fast. We just had to dig as deep in that last lap as we could. When Matt told me the time, I couldn’t believe it.”
The Scottish medal haul in the Izu Velodrome started earlier in the day with Scotland’s Jenny Holl piloting Sophie Unwin to the bronze medal in the Women’s B 3000m individual pursuit. The pair recorded a Paralympic record time of 3:23.446 to beat Belguim’s Griet Hoet and Anneleen Monsieur.
Powerlifting
Scotland’s Mick Yule was competing in the Men’s -72kg category. He opened with success at 180kg before lifting 182kg on his final attempt to edge out his rivals and snatch the bronze medal, the first Paralympic podium finish of his career. A number of competitors had the opportunity to overhaul Micky but all came up short. Malaysia’s Bonnie Bunyau Gustin set a Paralympic record of 228kg to take gold, while Mahmoud Attia claimed silver but Micky’s tactics paid dividends and he clinched the bronze medal medal.
Following his medal success, Mickey commented;
“We played a dangerous game of poker and we won and you know what – we never even had anything in our hand,” laughed a delighted Yule.”
“It just means everything and it seems like a bit of a dream at the moment because I wasn’t the strongest today but I had the best coaching staff.”
“We had a plan and we made everybody lift – the pressure built and built and built on them.”
“I was hitting my lifts and they were missing and we got there in the end. It just shows that you don’t always have to be the fastest or the strongest if you’re the smartest.”
“Smarts can sometimes win and they did today – we leave with this bronze medal and it’s for the whole team.”
Athletics
Double Paralympic long jump silver medallist Stef Reid MBE produced the second biggest jump of her career but her 5.75m effort missed bronze in the Women’s T64 final by just three centimetres.
The Scot, who had won Long Jump silver medals at the London and Rio de Janeiro Games, said;
“Fourth is new to me but that was my best Paralympic performance ever, so it’s bittersweet.”
“That was a massive season’s best and I’m so proud of turning my season around. I didn’t even think I’d qualify at one point this year. At the start of the season I didn’t think I had much left and that jump really surprised me.”
“It was a world-class final with two women over six metres. I started chatting with my husband about the future but we decided to leave it until after Tokyo, I’m just trying to enjoy this moment.”
Triathlon
Scotland’s Alison Peasgood narrowly missed out on her second Paralympics medal as the triathlon competition got underway at the Odaiba Marine Park. Alison, along with guide Nikki Bartlett, were making ground on France’s Annouck Curzillat and her guide Celine Bousrez entering the final straight but ran out of track and finished two seconds behind the eventual bronze medallist in the Women’s PTVI event. Alison who had won a silver medal in the PT5 event at Rio 2016, crossed the line in 1:11.47 to come 4th and admitted just making it to the start line was an achievement after an injury scare in the build-up.
“Three weeks ago I hurt my back,” she said. “I was on crutches at the holding camp and I didn’t think this was possible.”
“Even up until last week we still thought we might be flying back. So to be here and actually be competitive is pretty special.”
Fellow Scot Hazel Macleod was also in action in the Women’s PTVI as guide to Melissa Reid. The pair recorded a time of 1:14:24 to finish in 7th place.
Wheelchair Tennis
Helensburgh’s Gordon Reid got his Tokyo campaign underway in the Men’s Singles competition at the Ariake Tennis Centre. He faced a tricky second round encounter against South Africa’s Leon Els. Gordon was on top form from the outset and wrapped up the match in under an hour with an emphatic straight sets 6-2, 6-0 victory.
Boccia
It was the battle of Ayrshire on the opening day of the boccia competition with ParalympicsGB’s Scott and Jamie McCowan being drawn against each other in the opening Pool E match in the BC3 Individual competition. It was a real family affair with mum Linda and dad Gary acting as Ramp Assistants to the brothers. It was Scott who made the stronger start racing into a 6-0 lead after three ends. Jamie rallied in the fourth end to pull back a point but ultimately it was Scott who took the spoils with a 7-1 victory.
Earlier in the day Stephen McGuire was in action in the opening match of his BC4 Individual competition with a Pool C match against Kwan Hang Wong from Hong Kong. It was all square at 1-1 after the first couple of ends but it was Wong who then pulled away to win by 4-1.
Archery
Nathan McQueen was back in action at the Yumenoshima Final Field facing Russia’s Nail Gatin in the Men’s Ind Compound Open Elimination competition. It was destined to be a tight match with a single point separating the pair at the end of the third round. However, Gatin upped his game in the closing stages to beat the Scot by 142-138.
Wheelchair Basketball
After three defeats in a row, ParalympicGB’s Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team were back in action at the Ariake Arena with a must win match against Australia. Scotland’s Robyn Love and Jude Hamer were front and centre as the ParalymicsGB team raced to a 40-18 lead at the halfway point. It was a domination that was to continue in the second half of the match resulting in a comfortable 75-38 victory. Victory means ParalympicsGB have qualified for the quarter final stage and will play Group B winners China on Tuesday 31st August.
After four days of competition, Scotland’s medal tally at the Tokyo Games has now risen to nine with one gold, three silver and five bronze.
Photo – courtesy of imagecomms
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