Scottish para archers Nathan MacQueen and Brad Stewart proved their class at the European Cup that took place last week at the SC Stadium in Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic.

The duo, who are members of the University of Edinburgh Archery Club and coached by Alistair Whittingham, formed part of the men’s Open Compound Team, along with England’s John Walker.  The team comfortably defeated Austria and Ukraine in the early stages of the tournament, whilst also breaking a European record in doing so.  As a result, they set up a gold medal shoot against the top seeds, Iran.

It was an extremely tight affair, where the Brits were edged out into Silver position.  This is a fantastic achievement for the archers, particularly for Fife based Brad Stewart, who was making his international debut.

Great Britain & Northern Ireland finished third in the medal table, behind China and the USA, winning an incredible 39 medals at the IPC World Athletics Championships held in London over the past nine days.  The tally, which includes 18 golds, is GB’s best since the Birmingham Championships in 1998.

The London Stadium, which hosted the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, once again delivered an incredible event; showcasing para athletics to the masses, with more than 230,000 spectators attending.  In context, this is more than in all eight of the previous championships combined!  The word ‘legacy’ springs to mind……

This unprecedented success has prompted UK Athletics, with the support of the British Paralympic Association, to enter into negotiations to repeat the feat by bringing the next IPC World Championships back to London in 2019.

Central to proceedings in London was a quartet of talented Scots, who claimed three gold medals and three bronze medals between them.

Stef Reid became World Champion in the T44 Long Jump, delivering the first of ‘Scotland’s’ gold medals, prior to spending the rest of the Championships on Channel 4’s sofa, working as a pundit! With an undoubted talent for broadcasting, she demonstrated her in depth insight and knowledge of all track and field disciplines.

East Lothian’s teenage sprinter, Maria Lyle, equalled her Rio 2016 Paralympic medal haul of two bronze medals in the T35 100m and 200m, whilst F51 Club Throw Paralympic Champion, Jo Butterfield MBE, finished in fourth place and had to withdraw from the Discus due to injury.

However, one of the stars of the Championships was Borderer, Samantha Kinghorn, who became double World Champion in the T53 100m and 200m.  Her 200m achievement was a new World Record!  Sammi also claimed a bronze medal in the 400m and a fifth place finish in the 800m, to showcase her ability across a range of distances at the extremely young age (for a wheelchair racer) of 21.  The achievement is all the more remarkable, considering 10 months ago, she returned empty handed from Rio last summer.  This highlights the huge amount of work she has put in with her coach, and Scottish Athletics’ Para Events Lead, Ian Mirfin MBE.

Although, well known in Scotland, Sammi’s profile has grown considerably across the globe due to her performances on the track, as well as her incredibly positive and insightful post-race interviews.  Below are several quotes taken from the media over the course of the Championships:

“My class isn’t an easy one to win, but I’ve spent the last year getting a bit stronger and just learning so much. I also got a new chair in February and it’s just a bit lower and a bit more aerodynamic. It’s been a big learning curve. I knew that I wanted it after Rio. I wanted it more than anything. I wanted to be the best in the world so I’ve just trained and trained every session.” The Scotsman, 24 July 2017

“I really just believe this is the start,” she said. “I have got so much more to give. I am still only 21, have still not reached maturity yet. They reckon 28 is when we start to mature so I have still got a lot of time, and I hope this year I can keep getting faster and faster.” Evening Standard, 24 July 2017

“I’d love to be as good as Tatyana McFadden and compete at every distance and smash them all. I’d love to be the first T53 to go under 16 seconds so that’s my aim between now and Tokyo. Hopefully, one day I can be unbeatable.” Evening Standard, 24 July 2017

“I hoped I’d win one medal, but to win three with two gold has been incredible. My class is so unbelievably competitive, so I think it’s going to take a couple of months for it to actually sink in properly.” British Athletics, 23 July 2017

 

Scottish Disability Sport is incredibly proud of all our athletes and we wish them every success on the Track-to-Tokyo…..

Scottish Disability Sport is delighted to be invited by Bowls Scotland to include para-bowls events in the National Championships at Ayr Northfield on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 July 2017.

Previously we have had competition in the Men’s B6 and Men’s B7/8 classification, as well as a ladies Open class competition.  However, 2017 is a land mark year, as we will have competition in the men’s and ladies B2/B3 classification for bowlers with a visual impairment.  This gives us an extended programme, covering the vast majority of para bowls classification groups.

At the present time the event is by invitation only and we have selected the best players within Scotland to compete.  As we progress, we hope to introduce a qualification system in order to gain a place at Northfield.

We are in a vitally important phase within the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games cycle, with places in the B6/B7/B8 Open Triple and the B2/B3 Mixed Pair being fiercely contested ahead of the squad announcement in November.  The National Championships in Ayr provides another opportunity for our players to showcase their talents, whilst also allowing the coaches to assess player performances as part of our selection process.

Please see the full draw here.

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) joined forces with Short Breaks Fund, Wheelpower and the Big Lottery to run a residential sports summer camp for 35 young people with a physical or sensory impairment at the all-new sportscotland Inverclyde Sports Centre. The aim of the camp is to introduce participants to a range of activities in a fun, active and safe environment.

All sessions were led by qualified coaches currently involved in the Scottish Disability Sport programme and supported by SDS staff and a raft of skilled volunteers, including this year Colin Hardie – making a return after debuting in 2016 – and Chris Purcell from Celtic FC Foundation who brought a high level of enthusiasm and coaching expertise to proceedings and ensured the participants were engaged and tested throughout.

The young people were divided into three teams for all activities which included adapted cycling, archery, watersports at Castle Semple – with thanks to Dave Hill and his team there – and a very enjoyable cryptic orienteering course where each youngsters individual skills were utilised to the maximum. Another highlight was the ‘SDS Superstars’ session which served to demonstrate the fact that fitness suites and gyms should not solely be the province of the able-bodied, and indeed, with the very simplest of adaptations you can have meaningful and testing fitness activities in a fitness setting for all ages and abilities. The youngsters also had opportunities to complete significant tasks working collaboratively to achieve a successful outcome in various sporting and team building activities. An interactive quiz was fiercely contested on the second evening with participants answering questions on a range of subjects to find out who the 2017 Summer Camp Eggheads were.

The final activity of the camp involved a squad from the 207 Battery, 105^th Regiment Royal Artillery delivering an action-packed programme of activities that challenged the children to problem-solve, organise, take the lead and demonstrate their discipline and confidence at learning new skills. It was a first for the SDS Summer Camp and was universally praised by the participants and staff alike. At the end of the camp the participants enjoyed a final lunch with the new friends they had made over the duration of the camp and winning team was announced following the addition of all the points scored on the individual activities.

The feedback from participants and parents has been extremely positive and the participants gained so much from the refurbished Inverclyde venue and the activities on offer. The camp is scheduled to take place in 2018 on 11-13 July at Badaguish, Aviemore, which offers a very different, yet equally rewarding experience for participants.

Mark Gaffney, Events Manager for SDS, said “We are indebted to Short Breaks fund, the Big Lottery and Celtic FC Foundation for their continued sport of the SDS Summer Camp. The young people have gained confidence and competence across a number of areas which will benefit them hugely in pursuing sport and physical activity at a recreation, development or performance level. They’ve also had to learn to work collectively to achieve a common goal. The element of competition between the three teams ensures that each individual works to their maximum potential. Every individual has learnt a new skill or had a new experience and this is in thanks in no small part to the support we receive from all our funders and the magnificent staff and volunteers that all help make the camp what it is”.

SDS Summer Camp 2017 Photos

 

Gavin Drysdale (Red Star) and Kerry Mathers (Grampian) attended the 2017 International RaceRunning Camp and Competition, which was also the CPISRA RaceRunning World Championships, held in Copenhagen from the 9th to the 16th of July. This year 98 athletes from 13 different countries took part in three days of training sessions followed by three days of competition.

Kerry from Inverurie, in her first international event, competed in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m events. Kerry ran a terrific race to win the bronze medal in a very close finish to the 100m final. She also achieved three personal best times (100m, 400m and 800m) and qualified for the 200m final.

This year was Gavin’s 6th time competing in Denmark and he ran superbly to win four gold medals in the 100m, 400m, 800m and 1500m events setting world record times in the 400m and 1500m races. Gavin’s most impressive race was the 1500m when he executed his tactics perfectly to win a very competitive and exciting race with Brazilian Adriano Ferreira De Souza on the line.

Our warmest congratulations to both Kerry and Gavin on their achievements.

Times

Kerry
100m –25.68s
200m – 55.57s
400m –2m00.95s
800m – 4m27.10s

Gavin
100m –18.01s (Too windy to set a new WR)
400m –1m17.54s
800m –2m55.87s
1500m – 5m34.30s

Sammi Kinghorn and Stef Reid both won gold at the World Para Athletics Championships on Saturday. A stunning performance by both women, especially as Sammi not only won the gold medal in the T53 200m, but in a new world record time of 28.61.

Stef Reid won her gold with a jump of 5m 40 in the T44 long jump.

Both athletes warmly acknowledged the work of their coaches, Ian Mirfin MBE for Sammi Kinghorn and Aston Moore for Stef Reid.

Congratulations to Maria Lyle on winning a bronze medal in the T35 200m, and Jo Butterfield MBE for her fourth place in the F51 club throw.

Samsun, Turkey is the city in which the 23^rd Summer Deaflympics will be staged in what is sure to be a spectacle of high performance deaf sport.  The games will run from the 18 to the 30 July 2017.

The Deaflympics is the pinnacle for any deaf athlete and it is the second oldest multi-sport and cultural festival in the world, with a proud history stretching back to the first Games in Paris, in 1924. The event ensures that high performance athletes with a hearing impairment get that same Olympic experience as their hearing counterparts.

In recent years, Scotland has a history of producing top level athletes with the ability to represent Great Britain at the prestigious event.  The 2017 Games is no different, with Scotland having 10 athletes representing the country, across four sports

Danielle Joyce – Swimming
Jack McComish – Swimming
Shiona McLafferty – Swimming
John Ruddy – Athletics
Mitchell Graham – Athletics
Stuart Cameron – Football Men
PJ Dolan – Football Men
Olivia Preston – Football Women
Rachel Mallard – Football Women
Steven Cafferety – Golf

DeaflympicGB will be hopeful that they can improve on their disappointing medal haul from the Games four years ago, and in Danielle Joyce and Jack McComish, they have two athletes that represent strong medal prospects.  The pair will be hoping to build upon their success at the 2015 World Deaf Swimming Championships, where they delivered seven medals between them; Danielle clinching gold in the 100m freestyle.

The BBC recently released a documentary profiling some of the athletes that will be competing and it can be found following the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08xh12m

The following websites and Twitter feeds will be useful in order to follow the athletes’ progress at the Games:

http://deaflympics2017.org/en/home-page

http://ukdeafsport.org.uk/

Twitter

@deafsport

@deaflympicsgb

@Deaflympics2017

 

Deaflympics and the Paralympic Movement

Why can’t Deaf Athletes join the Paralympics?*

There is currently no Paralympic category for athletes who are only Deaf and have no other physical or learning impairment. The Paralympic Games already faces strict limit on the number of competitors, meaning it wouldn’t be able to absorb such a large number.  To include, would mean a reduction in some of the other classification groups that already exist.  Furthermore, it would consequently result in a reduction of performance athletes, across impairment groups, competing at the highest level.

There is overwhelming support amongst the deaf community to have a separate Games as many deaf people do not consider themselves disabled.  Athletes who are deaf are able-bodied and able to compete without significant restrictions, with the exception of communication barriers.

It is possible for Deaf athletes to compete in the Olympics Games and do so based on their ability to compete at the highest level of mainstream sport, without any adaptions, modifications or rule changes.

 

*Information summarised from UK Deaf Sport

Scotland’s Rio 2016 Paralympian was in action over the weekend at the British Weightlifting and Para-Powerlifting Championships in Coventry.  The Musselburgh born lifter secured a new personal best of 195kg to take the title.

Yule is on course for representing Team Scotland at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Below is a link to the winning lift.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWnMEGgl-vX/

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid followed up their history-making achievement in 2016 to become the first Brits to retain the Wimbledon men’s doubles wheelchair tennis title on Saturday at The Championships.

In a thrilling contest, Hewett and Reid defeated Rio Paralympic gold medallists Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France in a final set tie-break for the second successive year, completing a glorious 6-7(5) 7-5, 7-6(3) victory after two hours and 55 minutes of sporting theatre on Court No.3.

“When the match goes like that and you win 7-6 in the third it makes it even more special,” said an emotional Hewett.

“The French had us in an absolute battle out there. There were never any easy points, which is what you expect against the Paralympic champions. We had to work for every single point.

“It’s amazing to have been on Court No.3. I don’t think wheelchair tennis has had that kind of coverage before and especially before the rain the stadium was absolutely packed out. When you get the coverage and the support like that and British winners, too, it hopefully makes more and more people want to get involved with the sport at all levels and engage with the Tennis Foundation’s expertise and resources to develop and promote the sport. “

A series of momentum shifts in the opening set saw Hewett and Reid reel off four games in succession for a 4-2 lead. Despite coming from 5-2 down in the eventual tie-break it was not quite enough and Houdet and Peifer snatched the lead.

Rain forced the players off court at deuce in the second game of the second set, but Hewett and Reid came out firing on all cylinders on the resumption, taking a 4-0 lead before eventually forcing the decider.

Hewett and Reid went a break up midway through the final set and both Brits served for the match before top seeds Houdet and Peifer managed take the contest to another tie-break.

However, Reid eventually forced the vital error with a drop shot and Peifer could not return the ball, giving the Brits back-to-to back Wimbledon titles.

“We were prepared for a hard match and that’s what we got, so it’s amazing to have retained the title,” said Rio Paralympic singles gold medallist Reid. “The crowd support out there all the way through was better than we could have hoped for. I just hope people will have seen the amazing standard of tennis out there and how much everyone here enjoyed it, as well as the people watching at home on TV, and that that can just continue to raise the profile of the sport and grow the sport as well, because it’s a fantastic sport.”

Photos courtesy of Tennis Foundation