Highlights from day eight of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games.
Athletics
Scotland’s Sammi Kinghorne took to the track in the Olympic Stadium for the first time for the T53 Women’s 100m Final. Sammi ended her wait for Games glory with bronze, to give ParalympicsGB a first women’s T53 100m medal since 2004. Sammi recorded a time of 16.53 to take the bronze medal ahead of China’s Fang Gao and Hongzhuan Zhou, who took gold and silver respectively.
Speaking after her final, Sammi said;
“To be able to call myself a bronze medallist knowing there were moments in the race I definitely could have done more and done better is huge for me.”
“I know there are only three years to Paris 2024 and I know that I can get stronger.”
“Coming fifth in Rio, coming third now, hopefully that trajectory continues to go up and up and up.”
“I just didn’t want to come fourth again. I’m up on the podium this time and I can’t believe that I am, which is amazing.”
Sammi will be back in action for the T53 400m heats which start tomorrow.
Wheelchair Tennis
Scotland’s Gordon Reid MBE had battled to the quarter final of the Men’s Singles competition without dropping a set. However, his quarter-final opponent, Gustavo Fernendez, is currently ranked world number four, so he knew this would be a difficult task to overcome the Argentinian. Gordon battled back from 4-0 down in the opening set, which he eventually won 7-5. However, Fernendez upped his game in the second set, which he won 6-3. It was all to play for in the final set and it was the Scot who dealt with the pressure, triumphing 6-2, to take the match.
Gordon initially feared his title defence was over without hitting a ball in Tokyo after a member of the ParalympicsGB tennis squad tested positive for COVID a day before the opening ceremony. He was eventually cleared to play but had to follow a strict routine that included only leaving his room for matches and practice and not socialising with team-mates.
Gordon said;
“This morning was the first time that I could get out and go to the food hall myself and not have it delivered to the room because it’s 10 days since the test,”
“I was pretty emotional because at that stage, him testing positive and us being around – not close contacts but still being in similar places for the last few days – was a scare.”
“But it’s not been an issue so far so I’ve got no complaints.”
Gordon now progresses to the semi-final where he will face world number one, Shingo Kunieda from Japan.
Boccia
Ayrshire’s Scott McCowan, along with ramp assistant dad Gary, took to the court for his bronze medal match against Australian, Daniel Michel, in the BC3 Individual competition. Scott had played superbly well during the individual competition but couldn’t keep this momentum going into the medal matches. The bronze medal match ended with a 6-1 win for Michel but Scott can be proud of his 4th place finish as he now switches his attention to the BC3 Pair’s competition.
Scott commented;
“I’m devastated at the moment,”
“To have two chances at a medal and then not to get one, that’s absolutely gutting.”
“I’ll bounce back and start again in the pairs. We’ve got a really good chance in that for a medal.”
“I’m playing some of my best boccia ever, I think we’re definitely one of the favourites to go all the way here and I’m confident.”
“I love playing with Jamie, we have that relationship where a lot of the time we don’t even have to say anything. We know what each other is thinking, we are very similar in terms of our mindsets and our personalities.”
“I’m just loving being here again. One of the wonderful things about boccia is it is truly about the sport. There’s a great camaraderie between the players. There’s not really any egos but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to win.”
Swimming
Andrew Mullen rounded off his third Paralympic Games with a 13th place finish in the S5 50m freestyle. The Glasgow sprinter touched in 36.01, finishing seventh in a heat where the Paralympic record fell and missed out on a final place by 0.74.
After his swim Andrew said;
“This has been a hard meet for everyone, but the attitude and mood within the team has always been incredibly upbeat and positive,”
Scotland’s medal tally rises to thirteen with one gold, three silver and nine bronze after eight days of competition.
Photo – courtesy of imagecomms
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