A ‘magnificent’ seven medals for Team Scotland on first day of competition

On a day of mixed weather conditions that ranged from glorious sunshine, to thunder and lightning and torrential downpours, Team Scotland delivered seven medals on the track, on the opening day of the CPISRA World Games.

Shelby Watson won the first Scottish medal of the day, which was gold in the T33 800m final. This was swiftly followed by Lewis Clow, who delivered a personal best performance in the T37 Long Jump.  Ewan Waite was up next to compete in his first race of the season after an injury plagued 13 months.  Ewan was happy with his performance and claimed bronze in the T38 800m Final.  A string of fine performances saw Abbie McInally, Ross Paterson, Nathan Blackie and Lewis Clow qualify for finals in the evening session.  Connaire McAlindon competing in the T37 Shot Putt, battled through injury to place seventh in a very competitive field.

The evening session was delayed due to the severe thunder and lightning storm which swept through Sant Cugat.  When events resumed, Nathan Blackie produced a fine performance to come home in second place to claim the silver medal.  World record holder Gavin Drysdale made his first appearance at these Games and stormed to victory in the RR3 100m final, which culminated in a crash, but fortunately Gavin was not hurt and will compete again tomorrow.  Shelby Watson followed her earlier performance by winning her second gold of the competition in the T33 100m final.  Ross Paterson and Lewis Clow raced back to back in the T38 and T37 100m finals.  These races were an excellent advert for CP athletics, as they both ended in blanket finishes, with the Scottish athletes both placing 4^th in their respective events.  The final event of the day saw Abbie McInally, making her debut at the CP World Games, putting in a fine performance to finish in silver medal position in the T37 100m with a personal best time.

Away from the track, the Scottish boccia players were taking part in their second day of the Boccia Camp.  In the morning session the players worked on a variety of tactics with emphasis on the use of angles to gain a competitive advantage. This was followed by a session on match play where players had the opportunity to practice with their playing partners for the team and pairs competition tomorrow,

The swimmers had their last day of training where coaches fine-tuned their starts in preparation for the competition starting on Friday at 1000.

We are looking forward to see all athletes, swimmers and boccia players in action today!