It was a “Fantastic Friday” on day ten of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games with five medals for Scots across four different sports.

Athletics

Fife’s Owen Miller is making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo and what a debut it was destined to be. Owen took to the track for the final of the T20 Men’s 1500m and blew the field away to take the gold medal. Owen was in fifth position with 400m to go but stayed patient and kicked hard down the back straight to move into second place. He hovered on the shoulder of the Russian Paralympic Committee’s Alexander Rabotnitskii and overtook him on the last bend before sprinting home to stop the clock in 3:54.57.

After his gold medal winning performance. Owen said;

“It is my first Paralympic Games and what an experience, it is really hard going but the work I have done in the last 18 months has really paid off and helped me,”

“If it wasn’t for all the support back home I wouldn’t be here today. It means the world to me and I have done my best.”

“I was third in the world in Dubai 2019 so to be number one now is quite the experience and I have never done it in my life. This is the best day of my life.”

The 4x100m universal relay team of Scotland’s Libby Clegg, Jonnie Peacock, Ali Smith and Nathan Maguire safely made it through to the evening session’s final by qualifying third fastest in a time of 47.86. The ParalympicsGB quartet set a time of 47.50 in the final to secure the silver medal behind the USA who took gold.

Libby said this medal trumped her double gold in Rio;

“I’m so privileged and proud to be a part of this team and share this moment with these guys,”

“Right now this is my proudest moment – being part of this team.”

“I’m going to take some time out but this is my last running competition, unless I dabble in a sports day when my son is at primary school.”

“To end my athletics career with this medal is a dream come true.”

Reigning Paralympic champion, Jo Butterfield, started the defence of her F51 Women’s Club Throw title in the Olympic Stadium today. Despite throwing a season’s best of 21.77, Jo finished the competition just outside the medals in 4^th place.

Ben Rowlings was back on action in the Olympic Stadium for the heats of the T43 Men’s 800m. Ben raced home in a time of 1:48.21 to finish in 4^th position which was enough to see him through to tomorrows final.

Swimming

Stephen Clegg qualified second fastest in his heat to set up a push at his own 100m butterfly S12 world record and Paralympic gold. The Scot led the race throughout, turning in 26.98 and winning in a time of 59.13. Stephen was determined to break 56.75 in the final, the new world best time he set in Sheffield in April.

He had already won a pair of bronze medals in Tokyo and came into this final as the world record holder. However, he was to face Azerbaijan’s Raman Salei, who had won two golds coming into this event and had also qualified fastest for the final. Stephen surged into the lead on the final 25m, but Salai fought back and touched in 57.81, six hundredths of a second ahead of Stephen, but a full second outside the ParalympicGB swimmer’s world record.

After the final Stephen said;

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, I came here to win and it is quite far short of where I wanted to be. I can’t really make any excuses, my prep coming into the meet was really good and I’ve been where I wanted to be in my other events.”

“I definitely want a gold medal from my career, so there’s no chance of me retiring any time soon. I’ll go away from this and come back with a vengeance for Paris.”

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid and doubles partner Alfie Hewett suffered further Paralympic heartbreak at the hands of French pair Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer following a dramatic three-set doubles defeat in Tokyo. The ParalympicsGB pair had lost to Houdet and Peifer in Rio and once again had to settle for silver medals at the end of a gripping match which the experienced defending champions snatched 7-5, 0-6, 7-6 (3).

Reid and Hewett fought back from losing the opening set to lead the decider 3-1 but could not capitalise before a tense tie-break went against them. The pair will return to court at the Ariake Tennis Park tomorrow to face each other in the bronze medal singles match.

After the mammoth encounter, Gordon said;

“We’re devastated right now; we came here with one job to do and that was to win the gold.”

“We both believed we were going to do it, we came in with brilliant form and tried so hard to change it from five years ago.”

“It’s going to take a while for it to sink in, I’m just proud of the way we fought to the end. We backed each other up the whole way through the match. We win together, we lose together.”

Cycling

Jenny Holl was back on her bike as pilot to Sophie Unwin for the Women‘s B Road Race at the Fuji International Speedway track. The ParalympicsGB pair posted a time of 2:36:00 to win the silver medal and round-off a hugely successful Games for the cyclists. World champions Unwin and Holl kept up with the leaders, only briefly dropping off the back of a breakaway made by Katie-George Dunlevy of Ireland and Sweden’s Louise Jannering. Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal sprinted away in the final stretch to claim their second gold of the Games, while Unwin and Holl pipped the Swedes on the line to add silver to their individual pursuit bronze on the track.

Boccia

The Tokyo boccia competition was drawing to a close and today witnessed the final encounters in the pool stages ahead of tomorrow’s medal matches.

Hamilton’s Stephen McGuire was a member of the ParalympicsGB BC4 pair who faced Canada with a shot at the medals still in their own hands. ParalympicsGB were one shot down after two ends but staged a brilliant fight back to close out the match 5-2.

This led to a final Pool A encounter against Portugal for the opportunity to compete for the medals. Again, it was a close encounter which sat all square at 1-1 after two ends. However, on this occasion it was the Portuguese pair that upped their game in the latter stages and took a shot in each of the remaining two ends to win 3-1. No medal opportunity for Stephen on this occasion but some fantastic play during the Games from the world number ten.

After his last match Stephen said;

“I’m pretty disappointed to be honest. There was nothing I would have loved any more than to provide a medal for ParalympicsGB. It’s been my dream. It’s been a fantastic tournament, the third end was where the game turned around, so credit to Portugal.”

The McCowan family were also back in action today for their concluding Pool A ties in the BC3 Pairs competition. Their first match of the day was against the Thailand pair currently only one place behind them in the world rankings. At the halfway stage of the match, the ParalympicsGB pair found themselves trailing 6-0. They rallied toward the end of the match but it was too little too late and the match was eventually lost 7-3.

Their final Pool A match of the Games was against the pair from France. The ParalympicsGB pair hit top form to record a thoroughly convincing 7-0 win. Unfortunately again, not enough for progression to the medal matches but a memorable Games for Scott McCowan in particular after some great form to finish 4^th in the BC3 individual competition.

After his match Scott said;

“It’s great to have so many people enjoying boccia and enjoying what they’ve seen from me playing on the court. It’s been brilliant to be back at the Paralympics again. We’ve had a great time in Tokyo.”

Shooting

Scotland’s Lesley Stewart finished 13^th in the R8 Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions qualification after three years out with a major injury. Lesley finished two places ahead of ParalympicsGB team-mate Lorraine Lambert in a high-scoring qualification event. The Blairgowrie shooter scored 1133, just 14 off the eighth and final qualifying spot.

Speaking off her Tokyo experience, Lesley said;

“It has been a great experience for me at my first Paralympic Games,”

“I only qualified for these Games two months ago, so it has been a very quick turnaround from qualification to performing here in Tokyo.”

“After three years out with major injury, I am so proud to have made it here and be part of a great team.”

“This will make me stronger and know more about performing at major Games and I will reflect and learn from the experience.”

“The support from the whole team has been immense as has the welcome here in Tokyo.”

 

Scotland’s medal tally rises to twenty with two gold, nine silver and nine bronze after ten days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

Highlights from day nine of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games.

Cycling

Strathpeffer’s Fin Graham is making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo but was full of confidence coming into his Men’s C1-3 Road Race. He had won a silver medal on the track earlier in the week and took this form into the road event at a rain-soaked Fuji International Speedway. Fin was in the leading pack from the outset and pushed hard to the finishing line in a thrilling climax. He claimed the silver medal in a time of 2:05:43, only 1:20 behind fellow ParalympicsGB rider Benjamin Watson who took gold.

Athletics

Border’s wheelchair racer, Sammi Kinghorn, was back in action today in the T53 Women’s 400m and won her heat in a time of 56.73 to see her comfortably through to the final. Sammi had claimed a bronze medal in the 100m yesterday, her first Paralympic medal. She was back in the Olympic Stadium to face a quality field in the 400m final line up and didn’t disappoint. She recorded a time of 57.25 to claim the silver medal by 0.04 ahead of Hongzhuan Zhou from China, with Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner taking gold in a time of 56.18.

A T11 Women’s 200m heat 3rd place finish for Libby Clegg MBE and her guide Chris Clarke, in a time of 27.93, was not enough to see Libby qualify for tomorrows semi-final.

Following the race Libby announced her retirement from athletics. The two-time Paralympic champion from Rio was still pleased with her performance after a disrupted campaign and will draw her stellar career to a conclusion after Friday’s Universal Relay.

Commenting on her decision, Libby said;

“To finish my career in the Paralympic stadium in Tokyo is amazing,”

“I wasn’t even sure I was going to be here so I’m happy. I’ve still got the relay to come tomorrow which I’m really looking forward to, so I’m ready for that one.

“It has been such an honour to be on such a successful team. There are some incredible young athletes coming through on the Futures programme who are just starting their journey so I’m happy to see them developing out here.”

Mel Woods finished 6th in her T54 Women’s 400m heat in a time of 59.11 but failed to progress to the final.

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid MBE had played some scintillating tennis to progress to the semi-final of the Men’s Singles competition where he found himself facing world number one, Shingo Kunieda from Japan. The Scot put up a good fight but ultimately lost the tie 6-3, 6-2. Gordon will now fight for the bronze medal on Saturday and will also be back on court tomorrow for the final of the Men’s Doubles competition.

Boccia

Stephen McGuire was a member of the ParalympicsGB pair for their opening Pool A match up against Brazil in the BC4 Pairs competition. They got off to a flying start to lead 6-0 after two ends. However, the Brazilians staged a fight back but couldn’t do enough to stop ParalympicsGB winning the match 6-4.

In their second match of the day the ParalymicsGB pair faced Slovakia, who had also won their opening Pool A match. They came up against a Slovakian pair on top form, who dominated the game from the outset and ran out winners by 8-0. Currently second in their pool, it could be a straight shootout with Canada for the second semi-final spot.

Speaking after his last match, Stephen said;

“They are very, very strong, physically, and that shows why they’re world champions and Paralympic champions.”

“We could have been a bit more clinical. We were creating opportunities, we just needed to take them. If we play them again and take our opportunities, it will be a better game.”

Following the disappointment of just missing out on a medal in the individual competition, the McCowan family were back on court for their opening match in Pool A of the BC3 Pairs Competition. The Scots, along with Beth Moulam, were up against the South Korean pair and it was destined to be a gripping encounter. The match finished 2-2, necessitating an extra end which the South Koreans won by a single shot.

The ParalympicsGB BC3 Pair had to regroup quickly as they were back in action later in the day to face a Greek pair who had won their first Pool A match. It was to be another close match but unfortunately the Greek pair proved too strong and won the match 4-2.

Following the tie, Scott McCowan commented;

“We tried really hard there and I thought we played a great game.”

“I’m struggling a bit more to explain how we lost because at the start we played at a really good level, particularly in the last end. We thought we had the game plan and tactics to play well enough but we didn’t get the job done so it’s extremely disappointing.”

Swimming

Aberdeen’s Toni Shaw laid down a smooth S9 Women’s 100m Butterfly heat with a 3^rd place finish in a time of 1:10.41 seeing her through to the final. Toni swam magnificently in the final to record a time of 1:08.87 and a 4^th place finish, agonisingly close to a medal.

Toni was back in action at the Tokyo Acquatics Centre for the final race of the day, as part of the ParalympicsGB Women’s 4x100m Medley – 34pts team. Toni swam a fantastic leg in a time of 1:09.22 but unfortunately, the ParalympicsGB time of 4:58.76 resulted in another 4^th place finish for Toni.

Louis Lawlor finished 4^th in a time of 1:01.43 in his S14 Men’s 100m Backstroke heat which was enough to see him qualify for the final later in the day. Louis set a time of 1:01.80 in a final of exceptional quality to finish in 8^th place.

Wheelchair Baketball

Scots Robyn Love and Jude Hamer were involved in the ParalympicsGB 7/8 Classification Playoff match against Spain today. ParalympicsGB dominated the game from the outset, establishing a 22-8 lead in the first quarter, before stretching to a 62-43 victory and ensuring a 7^th place finish in Tokyo.

Scotland’s medal tally rises to fifteen with one gold, five silver and nine bronze after nine days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

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 4^th 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 13^th 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

Day seven of the Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo brought further medal success in the pool for Scots on the ParalympicsGB team.

Swimming

Toni Shaw and Stephen Clegg were back in the pool on Tuesday as they sought to add to their medal tallies in the 100m Freestyle, with both having strong swims in their respective heats earlier in the day.

This was to set up further medal success for Stephen Clegg as he took Bronze in the S12 100m Freestyle (M) event as his successful games continued in fine style. Not only was it enough to secure his second medal in Tokyo, Stephen swam a British Record time of 53.43.

Stephen said: “It’s not an event I’ve worked on much & I was a bit naïve on how I wanted to swim it. So coming away with a medal is really exciting & shows I’m in great form for my butterfly.”

In the S9 100m Freestyle (W) final, Toni put in another good swim but feel narrowly short of adding to her medal tally as she came in 4th place in what was a very high quality final.

Toni Shaw: “Nobody likes to come fourth, but it’s such a competitive race”.

With more opportunities to come in Tokyo, it has been a very strong games for the first time Paralympian.

Boccia

Scott McCowan was back on court on Tuesday where he faced Brazilian De Olivieira at the quarter-final stage with Scott producing a dominant display in progressing to the semi-final stage later in the day with a convincing 9-1 victory.

Following this fantastic victory, Scott said: “It’s exactly the way I wanted to play, the way I dreamt of it panning out.”

Later in the afternoon Scott was back on court for his semi-final match against the Greek Polychronidis in what was to turn out to be an enthralling match. Trailing 4-1, Scott was able to launch a comeback to make it 4-4 and take the game to a tie-break where unfortunately for Scott he couldn’t quite see it through in a match decided by the very finest of margins.

A disappointed but proud Scott said: “I gave it everything, played the best in the tournament I’ve played, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough today.”

Scott will now compete for a Bronze medal tomorrow.

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid MBE and his partner Alfie Hewitt have guaranteed themselves medal success in Tokyo as they cruised into the Men’s Doubles final with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Japanese pair Shingo Kunieda and Takashi Sanada. The win took just 87 minutes as the top seeds played some stunning tennis to set up an opportunity to go one better than their 2016 Silver medal in Rio.

A focused Gordon Reid said:

“We’re really, really happy at the moment. That match couldn’t have gone a lot better for us.

“We executed our game plan and our tactics really well and we didn’t let up at any point, especially towards the end when sometimes you can get a bit nervy.

“But that’s probably when we played some of our best tennis. We’re really pleased, but we’ve done nothing yet because we came here for the gold and we’ve still got to earn that.”

Gordon is back to Men’s Singles action tomorrow where he will compete for a place in the semi-final of that competition before Friday’s Gold Medal match.

Wheelchair Basketball

Scotland’s Robyn Love and Jude Hamer were back in action in the Women’s Wheelchair Basketball competition as GB Women took on China at the quarter final stage.

Unfortunately the Paralympic medal dream is over as they succumbed 47-33, where despite at one point looking like a brilliant comeback was on the cards, their shooting game was not quite on top and China saw the match out to reach the semi-final stage. GB Women will now go into a 7/8th place playoff to end their tournament in Tokyo.

Para-Cycling

There were a pair of agonisingly close finishes on the road for Scots Fin Graham and Jenny Holl, who piloted Sophie Unwin once again. Despite strong races, they both fell just short of medalling in Tuesday’s Time Trial events.

Fin had to settle for 4th place in the Men’s C3 Time Trial where an incredibly tight race saw 11 seconds separate 6 riders. Despite provisionally finishing in 3rd place, his time of 36.20 was just pipped by 2.9 seconds to push him out of the medal places.

In the Women’s C5 Time Trial, the tandem of Sophie Unwin and Scottish Pilot Jenny Holl competed in another tight race, with just 6 second separating 3 tandems at the second time check. Unfortunately the pair couldn’t push themselves into the medal places coming in 5th place.

Fin Graham will be aiming for success in his final event of the Games, the Men’s C1-3 Road Race, which takes place in the very early hours of Thursday morning (01:48 BST start). Sophie Unwin and her pilot Jenny Holl will also be targeting the Road Race after a couple of days well deserved rest – that Women’s B Road Race will take place on Friday morning at 09:00 BST.

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With a further medal added on day 7, the Scottish medal count has increased to 12 with 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 12 Bronze.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

Highlights from day six of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games.

Swimming

Andrew Mullen was back in the poll today for the S5 Men’s 50m Backstroke. The Scot swam a time of 37.99 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre to finish 4^th in his heat to ensure a place in the final.

After his heat Mullen commented on his performance;

“I’m really pleased with that. It’s the fastest backstroke swim I’ve done in an awfully long time in the heats. It’s nice to make it through to the final; the S5 events have really pushed on in the last four years so to be up there competing in a final in my third Paralympic Games, yes, I’m pleased.”

Andrew finished in 7th place in the final of the S5 Men’s 50m backstroke, coming home in 37.96, a faster time than in the morning heats.

Athletics

Ben Rowlings is making his Paralympic debut at the Tokyo Games and faced a strong field in the T34 Men’s 100m Final in the Olympic Stadium today. Ben finished 9^th in a time of 16.77, with his main target, the 800m, still to come later in the Games.

After his race, Ben stated;

I’m not happy with how I started the race, technically it wasn’t the best. I needed to be with the guys at the start,”

“The class has got really strong over the last few years so I know I’ve got work to do on the 100m.”

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid MBE faced his toughest challenge so far in the Men’s Singles competition when he came up against 9^th seed Takashi Sanada from Japan in this third-round tie. However, the challenge never really materialised from the Japanese player and Gordon eased into the next round with a 6-2, 6-1 straight sets victory.

Gordon was back on court later in the day for the quarter final of the Men’s Doubles competition with partner Alfie Hewitt. The pair faced sixth seeds Joachim Gerard and Jef Vandorpe from Belguim at the Ariake Tennis Park. The number one seeds got off to a strong start and saw off their challengers with a straight sets 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Boccia

Scott McCowan was unbeaten in Group E of the BC3 Individual competition as he prepared for his final pool match against Australia’s Spencer Cotie at the Ariake Gymnastics Stadium. Scott got off to a blistering start taking the first end by three shots. However, Cotie fought back in the second end to make the score 3-2. Scott took a further shot in the third end to set up a nervous conclusion to the match. However, the Australian couldn’t make up the ground in the final end and Scott ran out as a 4-3 winner. Scott and his ramp assistant dad Gary, now progress to the knockout stages of the competition to face Brazil’s Evelyn de Oliveira in their quarter final tomorrow.

Jamie McCowan, with ramp assistant mum Linda McCowan, faced a final Pool E match against Argentina’s Stefania Ferrando in the BC3 individual competition. Jamie had lost his opening matches and it was a tough ask to progress in the competition. It was to be an exceptionally close encounter with the score 2-2 after four ends and a tie break required to decide the match. It was the Ferrando who emerged victorious taking a single shot in the tie break. Jamie’s attention now turns to the BC3 Pairs competition with ParalympicsGB facing South Korea on Thursday.

Hamilton’s Stephen McGuire faced a must win final Pool C BC4 Individual match if he was to progress to the later stages of the competition. He was up against Euclides Grisales from Columbia at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Stephen found it difficult to deal with the Columbian from the outset and ultimately lost the tie 6-0. Stephen’s focus will now shift to the BC4 Pairs competition where he will team up with Louis Saunders & Evie Edwards, for an opening encounter with Brazil on Thursday.

Shooting

Blairgowrie’s Lesley Stewart is another Scot making her Paralympic debut competing in the R2 Women’s 10m AR Standing SH1 event at the Asaka Shooting Range. Lesley’s score of 610.8 resulted in an 18^th place finish in the qualification shoot but was unfortunately not enough to see her progress to the final stage of the competition.

Reflecting on her first Games experience, Lesley said;

“I think today was a hard battle, it did seem very hard in there.”

“However, I am very proud of what I have done today because it is my first Games, and I have come back from severe injury, so the only way forward is up.”

 

No additions medals for Scotland today, so the medal tally remains at eleven with one gold, three silver and seven bronze after six days of competition.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

Two more Scottish medals added to the ParalympicsGB total on day five of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games.

Swimming

Scotland’s European silver medallist Conner Morrison got his Tokyo campaign off to a great start at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, finishing second in Heat 1 of the Men’s SB14 100m Breaststroke in a time of 1:08.01, 2.71 seconds behind Australia’s Jake Michel, who broke Scott Quin’s Paralympic record from Rio 2016 in 1:05.30. However, that record was broken again in Heat 2, with Japan’s Naohide Yamaguchi clocking 1:04.45. Scott Quin finished second in Heat 2 in a time of 1:06.20 to ensure that Scotland would have two swimmers progress to the final later in the day.

Both swimmers looked confident as they took to the block in the Men’s SB14 100m Breaststroke final. It was Scott who would be in the hunt for the medals, winning the bronze in a fantastic time of 1:05.91. The gold went to Yamaguchi, in another world record time of 1:03.77, with Michel taking the silver. Connor Morrison, competing in his fist Paralympic Games, recorded a time of 1:08.01 for a very creditable 8^th place finish.

After his bronze medal winning swim, Scott said;

“I am gutted and not getting a personal best hurts me the most but at the end of the day, five years ago I came away with a silver and now I have a bronze.”

“It puts life into perspective and I am so humble to race here.”

The final Scottish swimmer in action today was Toni Shaw who was a member of ParalympicsGB’s Women’s 4×100 freestyle 34-point relay team. The quartet had initially finished the race in 4^th place but were subsequently disqualified for an illegal changeover.

Athletics

Maria Lyle lined up for the final of the T35 Women’s 200m full of confidence following her bronze medal in the 100m on Friday. It was to be another bronze medal for Maria on this occasion in a season’s best time of 30.24. The gold went to China’s Xia Zhou in a world record shattering time of 27.17, with Australia’s Isis Holt taking the silver in 27.94.

Scotland had two wheelchair athletes taking to the track for their heats at the Olympic Stadium. First to compete was Sammi Kinghorne in the T53 Women’s 800m, who looked smooth as she set a time of 1:50.83 to finish in second place behind Madison de Rozario.

Next up was Mel Woods for her T54 Women’s 800m heat. Mel is making her Paralympic debut in Tokyo and pushed a personal best time of 1:52.05 to secure a fourth-place finish. Both athletes progressed to their respective finals later in the day.

It was heartache for Sammi in her T53 Women’s 800m final as she finished in 4^th place with a time of 1:47.94, a mere 400^th of second behind Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner. The gold medal went to Australia’s Madison de Rozario in a new Paralympic record time of 1:45.99 with Hongzhuan Zhou from China taking the gold. Sammi will be back in action on Wednesday for the T53 Women’s 100m.

Mel Woods is making her Paralympic debut in Tokyo and found herself in the T54 Women’s 800m final facing the World and Paralympic Champions. Mel did fantastically well in breaking her personal best and securing a 5^th place finish in a time of 1:50.40. Mel will be back in action on Thursday for the T54 Women’s 400m

Wheelchair Tennis

Scotland’s Gordon Reid and partner Alfie Hewitt got their Wheelchair Tennis Men’s Doubles competition underway at the Ariake Tennis Park with a second round match against Thomas Flax and Nico Langmann from Austria. The ParalympicsGB pair got off to a flying start, taking the match 6-0, 6-0.

 

 

 

 

Boccia

Having defeated his brother in his opening match of the BC3 Individual competition, Scott McCowan was back in action for his next Pool E match against Argentina’s Stefania Ferrando. The pair were level after the second end but Scott, with dad Gary as his ramp assistant, piled on the pressure in the final two ends to win 6-1. Scott takes a 100% record into day three of the pool matches to face Spencer Cotie of Australia.

After his match Scott commented;

“It’s a good start so far – obviously I conceded a point in the second end but I kept the score down and ended up getting points down the other end, so it’s been a good start. I’ve just got to keep it going now.”

Jamie McCowan faced Spencer Cotie in his second BC3 Individual Pool E match. Following his defeat to Scott, Jamie and his Ramp Assistant mum Linda, were looking to bounce back against the Aussie. It was looking good for Jamie after two ends as he held a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately the tide was to turn in the second half of the game and Cotie won 5-2.

Scotland’s Stephen McGuire had also suffered a defeat in his opening match in Pool C of the BC4 Individual competition. Stephen faced a tricky tie against Shun Esaki from Japan next and it was destined to be a close match. Stephen raced into a 3-0 lead after two ends before Esaki rallied to put the Scot under considerable pressure. However, he couldn’t do enough to turn the match and Stephen eventually won 3-2. Next up for Stephen is Columbia’s Euclides Grisales at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

Speaking after his match, Stephen said;

“The pressure was on for me to get back to winning ways after losing yesterday’s match. I was also playing the home favourite which is always tough. It was a very difficult match,  a very close match. Hopefully a win tomorrow by three or four points would take me through – that’s the target.”

“But it’s a privilege to be here back doing what we love,” added Stephen. “It’s been 20 months since I’ve competed so it’s fantastic to see so many athletes in a great arena. I’m loving it!”

After five days of competition, Scotland’s medal tally at the Tokyo Games has now risen to eleven with one gold, three silver and seven bronze.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms

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 4^th 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 7^th 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

BOCCIA? HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES?

Boccia UK is on the lookout for the next generation of Paralympians and is enlisting teachers, Active Schools Coordinators and sports coaches to help in the hunt!

The governing body of the Paralympic sport is hoping that you can help identify young people who have the potential to compete in boccia at the highest levels.

“To be a world class boccia player, you need technical ability but also a sharp strategic brain that can tactically out-think opponents,” explains Liz Fisher, Head of Performance Pathway.

Do you know young people who:

–          Are performing well academically?

–          Might already be showing strategic ability through playing chess and board games?

–          Fit the classification criteria of BC1-4 to compete at a Paralympics?

“We know that there are young people out there who might not even consider themselves as sporty. They may not even have heard of the sport of boccia. But they could be our next stars! Boccia is as much a mental challenge as a physical one, so we are looking for players who have the potential to be highly tactical.”

Please visit https://boccia.uk.com/athlete-recruitment to find out more.

 

Day three of the Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo brought medal success on the track and in the pool for the Scots on the ParalympicsGB team.

Athletics

SDS Young Persons Sports Panel member, Maria Lyle, was the first Scot on the track in the Olympic Stadium today and she set a season’s best of 14.34 in her T35 100m heat. She was to improve on this time in the final, later in the day, setting a time of 14.18 to take a fantastic bronze medal. China’s Zhou Xia took the gold with a world record time of 13.00 seconds while Australia’s Isis Holt claimed silver.

Having just taken ParalympicsGB’s first athletics medal of Tokyo 2020, Maria said;

“That feels so good, I’m so happy with a bronze medal. I didn’t know what to expect but I knew I was in good shape, a season’s best and a medal is more than I can ask for.”

“I’ve tried not to think about this race until today and I just wanted to enjoy it.”

“This has been five years of really hard work. The last 18 months have been so hard trying to understand if the Paralympics were even going to happen.”

Swimming

Stephen Clegg was already a World and European medallist heading into Tokyo 2020, so hopes were high as he took to the pool for his S12 100m Backstroke final. Stephen’s favoured event is the S12 100m Butterfly, in which he holds a world record, but he proved that every race is a podium opportunity, pacing himself well be well in contention for the medals in the final length. Stephen touched in a time of 1:01.27 to beat his own British record and take the bronze medal.

Speaking of the feeling of taking his maiden Paralympic medal, Stephen said;

“I was really happy with that. It’s more of an event for me to get into the meet, I had a really open mind coming into it, so a medal is amazing and it’s a small personal best too – I’m really pleased with that,”

Speaking of the support of his family, Stephen continued;

“We’re all individual athletes (Stephen’s brother James is a former Paralympic swimmer, while sister Libby is out in Tokyo with the athletics team). We’re all there to support each other. I know my brother will be back home watching me and my sister’s back in the village, so I can’t wait to go and show her the medal!”

Meanwhile, Scotland’s Andrew Mullen continued his Paralympic campaign in the men’s S5 50m Butterfly. Andrew had not swam this event competitively for over three years and the City of Glasgow Swim Team swimmer finished 11th overall in a season’s best time of 39.01.

Following his race Andrew said:

“That wasn’t too bad. I’ve actually not swam the 50m fly competitively for an awfully long time. It’s just really another event to get into the feel of the competition, the flow of the call-room, the warm-up etc. My main focus coming into the meet has always been to help the 20pt relay guys qualify for the final and then focus on my 50m back later in the week.”

Archery

The archery programme got underway today at the Yumenoshima Park venue. Scotland’s, Nathan McQueen was in action in the Men’s Individual Compound Open Ranking Round scoring 680 points from his 72 arrows. This resulted in a 22^nd place finish to set up a clash with Russia’s Nail Gatin in the round of 32 tomorrow.

Wheelchair Basketball

After back-to-back defeats in their opening matches of the Women’s Wheelchair Basketball competition Scotland’s Robyn Love and Jude Hamer were back on court with ParalymicsGB to face a German side who had won their only Group A match to date.  It proved to be a tough match once again for the ParalympicsGB side with the Germans leading 30-17 after two quarters at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza. This was a lead that they would not relinquish, eventually winning the match 53-35.

ParalympicsGB’s next match will be tomorrow at the Ariake Arena when they face Australia.

Scotland’s medal tally at the Tokyo Games has now risen to five with two silver and three bronze.

Photo – courtesy of imagecomms