Day eight of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro a further two silver medals for Scots within the ParalympicsGB team.

Athletics

Having opened her Paralympic career with a bronze medal in the women’s T35 100m, Dunbar’s Maria Lyle, was back in action in the in the Olympic Stadium.

Maria was a member of the women’s F35-38 4x100m relay squad that secured the silver medal in a new British record. The quartet had already won five gold and two bronzes between them in Rio but, despite clocking 51.07, were unable to get the better of China who set a new world record 50.81 for gold.

Maria said:

“I’m buzzing – I don’t know about the other girls but when I watched the British relay (4x100m) medal at the Olympics, that just made me want to race here so much”.

“We have done our best; we couldn’t have done anymore today. We’ll certainly be going for that gold in London (World Championships) next year on home ground.”

Wheelchair Tennis

Scotland’s Gordon Reid and his partner Alfie Hewitt had reached the final of the men’s doubles competition courtesy of a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Japan’s Shingo Kunieda and Satoshi Saida. They now faced France’s Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer to decide the Paralympic title and in a scintillating encounter lost out in three sets.

In a close match they lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 and the pair admitted their wheelchair tennis men’s doubles silver medal felt bittersweet after a battling defeat.

Gordon commented:

“I think we had the belief we had the gold medal, we knew it was in the tank and winning that second set we really thought we were back in the match”.

“We gave them a bit more of a match but we’ll look back on this and be proud of what we’ve done.”

But the pair were quick to turn their attentions to Friday’s all-British singles final clash.

Reid, the Australian Open and Wimbledon singles champion, said:

“It’s incredible and to have an all British final is the stuff of dreams. We’re not sharing a room or even in the same apartment and I don’t think we’ll be having breakfast together but there is a lot of respect between us.”

Boccia

Hamilton’s Stephen McGuire and Patrick Wilson from the Scottish Borders were the two Scots to progress to the quarter finals in the individual Boccia competition at the Carioca Arena.

However, Stephen and Patrick both lost their quarter-finals in the BC4 and BC3 class.

McGuire lost 4-2 with world number one, Hong Kong’s Yuk Wing Leung while Wilson was beaten 4-3 by Korea’s Kim Han Soo.

After his match Stephen said:

“That was a very tough draw, it was number one versus number two. I had my chances but didn’t quite take them”.

“I went out at the quarter-finals and I’m disappointed but I’ve loved every minute of this, it’s been fantastic.”

Patrick added:

“I’m definitely proud. That should hopefully put me in fifth or sixth which isn’t bad for a first Paralympics. I think once I’ve got over it, I’ll be quite happy with that.”

Wheelchair Basketball

Ayr’s Robyn Love was a member of the GB women’s wheelchair basketball team who had guaranteed their best ever result at a Paralympic Games after reaching the semi-finals in Rio after a 57-38 victory over China in the quarter-final. This meant a semi-final encounter with the USA after their emphatic 66-35 quarter-final victory over Brasil.

History had already been made by the GB women’s team by making the last four in Rio but they were looking to keep their run going by progressing to the gold medal match. GB put up a terrific fight but will have to play for bronze in Rio after losing 89-78 to the USA in a tense encounter.

Ayr’s Paralympic debutant Robyn Love, who contributed 11 points, during the match said:

“The USA have been in this position before, we’re quite a young team, it’s the first time we’ve ever been in this position. We made history by reaching the semi-final. Maybe it’s a bit of inexperience as they seemed to find an extra gear after half-time”.

“I felt like we fought back and scored a few threes to pull it back. They were scared and brought on one sub and then had to take that sub off again”.

“We’ll watch the other semi-final match and just get ready for it. It’s been an amazing experience so far”.

“I’m so proud of the team, we’ve only lost two games, I could not be more proud of this team. We’ve fought hard and we’ll continue to do that in this tournament.”

GB will now compete in the bronze-medal match against the Netherlands tomorrow.

Wheelchair Rugby

Glasgow’s Michael Kerr was a member of the GB team who suffered the narrowest of defeats in the wheelchair rugby in Rio as Canada scored in the dying seconds of overtime to take a 50-49 victory.

In an end-to-end battle, it was top seeds Canada who opened the scoring but Jim Roberts and Ayaz Bhuta were instrumental in keeping GB neck and neck with the Canadians. But with the scores level at 49 each, Trevor Hirschfield’s score with less than a second left on the clock in overtime settled the match.

It means GB have lost their opening two matches against Australia and Canada with a final group game against Brazil tomorrow, while they have to rely on results elsewhere going their way to progress to the semi-finals.

Cycling

Following her fantastic gold medal in yesterday’s Women’s H1-2-3 Time Trial event, Karen Darke was back in action on the road at Pontal. However, it wasn’t to be on this occasion for Karen who didn’t finish the Women’s H1-2-3-4 Road Race due to mechanical issues.

The addition of the silver medals in wheelchair tennis and athletics brings  the Scottish Medal Tally within the ParalympicsGB team four gold, six silver and two bronze.

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Day seven of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro saw Scottish athletes and players competing in no fewer than eight sports.

Cycling

Following medal success on the track, attention now turned to the road racing for Scotland’s cyclists. Karen Darke from Inverness was first to compete in the Women’s H1-2-3 Time Trial event at Pontal winning her first Paralympic gold medal after storming to an emphatic victory.

Karen made her ParalympicsGB debut at London 2012 winning silver. Her winning time of 33:44.93 was more than 12 seconds ahead of USA’s Alicia Dana in silver.

Karen, who will also compete in the H2-4 road race later this week, said:

“The pressure was on. Everything that could have gone wrong before did go wrong”.

“But I got myself in a really good place this week and on the start line today I felt confident”.

“I felt my ride was going really badly. My power just wasn’t there and my chain fell off, meaning I lost a few seconds so I thought that was it”.

“I just had to stop, put the chain back on and dig in, but I didn’t think it was going very well”.

“But in the last turns, I could see I was slightly ahead. I’ve been so close on so many occasions, but this time I did it”.

“The Paralympic gold medal is the top of the arrow and there have been some amazing people helping me”.

“There are so many organisations and people and I really felt the force of them today, I’m so lucky to have had so many people supporting me.”

Glasgow’s Hannah Dines was also in action today, competing in the Women’s T1-2Time Trial. It was a great experience for the Paralympic debutant finishing  the T1-2 competition in 5^th place.

The final Scot competing on the road today was Craig MacLean from Grantown-on-Spey who was pilot for James Ball in the Men’s Tandem B Time Trial at Pontal. Unfortunately, the pair finished to complete the Time Trial event.

However, this event was won by former SDS Academy athlete, Steve Bate who clinched his second gold medal of Rio 2016 after he and pilot Adam Duggleby took the gold medal at Pontal.

Swimming

It was also a busy swimming programme today at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Scott Quin was in action in the heats and final of the SB14 Men’s 100m Breaststroke. Scott laid down a marker of intent ahead of the final by setting a new Paralympic record in his heat. Edinburgh’s Quin, appearing at his first Paralympic Games, clocked 1:06.65. The 26-year-old European champion was the fastest overall qualifier, followed by teammate and fellow Paralympics debutant Aaron Moores in 1:07.25.

In a tight 100m breaststroke SB14 final it was to be a silver medal foe Scott, who was edged out by team mate Aaron Moores in 1:06.67 with Scott just three hundredths of a second slower.

After the race Scott said:

“That was some race. All this season Aaron and I have been pushing each other on. To be standing in that call room and to race with Aaron was an honour.”

Inspired by the double gold medal success of his sister, Libby, Stephen Clegg was determined to succeed in his S12 Men’s 100m Backstroke final. Stephen progressed to the final after posting the fifth fastest time overall of 1:03.11. In the  final, Stephen finished 5th in 1:02.06 with Ukraine’s Sergii Klippert taking gold.

Speaking after his heat, Stephen said:

“I think I’ve got a lot more for tonight. I had a good strong 50m and then backed off a little bit tonight which is not what I normally do.

“Libby and I are spending quite a lot of time together in the village, we go for lunch together.

“I had a bit of a rough start with my 400m at the start of the week but she talked me through it and managed to calm me down. I watched her race last night and I’m really pleased for her.”

Abby Kane from Largs was also back in the pool for the heat of the S13 Women’s 50m Freestyle. ParalympicsGB’s youngest athlete in Rio, finished sixth in a time of 29.98.

Athletics

At the Olympic Stadium, Dunbar’s Maria Lyle, opened her Paralympic career in the women’s T35 100m final. Maria burst out of the blocks superbly before eventually crossing the line third in 14.41. Gold went to China’s Zhou Xia in a new Paralympic record of 13.66 while Australia’s Isis Holt took silver in 13.75.

Maria, who is also set to compete in the T35 200m and T35-384x100m relay later in the week, said:

“It’s not really sunk it. It wasn’t my best race and the time wasn’t very good but I got a medal and not everyone gets a medal so I’ve got to be happy with that”.

“It’s a bit weird to be here at a Paralympic Games, I’ve enjoyed myself and that’s the main thing. Athletics helps to give me a sense of a purpose”.

“My mum is a great support, she takes me to training. I couldn’t have done anything without her.”

Following her fantastic gold medal in the F51 Club Throw earlier in the week, Glasgow’s Jo Butterfield was back in action for the final of the Women’s F52 Discus. It wasn’t to be for Jo on this occasion despite a season’s best throw of 9.40 with the gold medal going to Rachael Morrison of the USA.

Wheelchair Tennis

Scotland’s Gordon Reid was back in action at the Olympic Tennis Centre for his semi-final tie against France’s Stephane Houdet. Gordon had progressed to the final following a 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 quarter final defeat of to set up a semi-final tie against Gustavo Fernandez from Argentina. The Wimbledon champion beat top seed Houdet 7-5, 6-2 to progress to the final where he will face his doubles partner Alfie Hewitt. Gordon, who won his maiden Grand Slam singles title in Australia earlier this year, admits his confidence is surging after a week to remember in Rio.

He said:

“Stephane is the world number one and has been a top player for a long time but winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year has given me so much confidence”.

“I can’t wait to get back out on court for the final in the singles and the doubles. The rest of the ParalympicsGB team have been smashing it so far so to contribute two medals to the GB tally is a fantastic feeling”.

“We never would’ve dreamt of an all British final, it’ll be incredible. Alfie is playing amazing tennis.”

Gordon and Alfie Hewett face Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France in the men’s doubles final tomorrow.

Wheelchair Rugby

The GB Wheelchair Rugby Team, including Glasgow’s Michael Kerr, opened their campaign with a massive match against Australia. GB suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of reigning world and Paralympic champions as they fell to a 53-51 defeat. It was an end-to-end game, but it was tournament favourites Australia who succeeded, never once letting their lead slip after first going ahead through Andrew Harrison in the opening minute.

The 2015 European champions will look for a change in fortunes in their next pool game against top seeds Canada who defeated Brazil 62-48 in their opening match.

7 a Side Football

Martin Hickman, Jonathan Paterson and David Porcher were members of the GB seven-a-side football team, who played Argentina in the play off for 5^th/6th place at the Deodoro Stadium. The GB team finished their Rio 2016 campaign in style with a dominant 2-0 victory over Argentina to secure 5th place. The result ensured an improvement on GB’s 7^th place finish in London four years ago, with hosts Brazil and Ukraine the two teams to beat them in Rio following narrow 2-1 wins.

Boccia

In Pool C of the BC2 competition, Perth’s Josh Rowe had been dealt a tough opening fixture against Worawut Saegampa from Thailand. Josh opened with a 10-0 defeat to Saengampa before following that with a 7-2 defeat to Portugal’s Cristina Goncalves.

The BC3 individual competition also got underway today and Dundonald’s Jamie McCowan came up against Grigorios Polychronidis from Greece in his opening match. This proved to be a tough encounter for Jamie who struggled to match the play of his opponent, losing the tie 9-1. Later in the day, Jamie was to face Australia’s Daniel Michel in his second Pool C match and despite putting up a spirited fight lost out 3-2.

Scott McCowan was also in action with a Pool A match in the BC3 competition with a tie against Ho Won Jeong from South Korea. This proved to be a stern test for Scott who lost out to the South Korean 7-1.

Following an opening victory over Mario Peixoto from Portugal, Patrick Wilson was up against Kazuki Takahashi in this BC3 Pool G match. This was an epic encounter with the two trading blows throughout but it was Patrick who emerged victorious 5-3.

BC4 Individual World Champion, Stephen McGuire had a busy programme today with ties against Wai Yan Lau from Hong Kong and Dirceu Pinto from Brazil in BC4 Pool B. In a tight match against the Hong Kong player, Stephen emerged as the winner by 5-4 before losing to the Brazilian 6-2.

Fife’s, Kieran Steer faced BC4 Pool C encounters with Pornchok Larpyen from Thailand and Samuel Andrejcik from Slovakia. Unfortunately, Kieran lost both encounters, 5-0 to Larpyn and 9-3 to Andrejcik.

Patrick Wilson and Stephen McGuire will both progress to the quarter-final matches tomorrow.

Archery

Polbeth’s Natan McQueen was back in action at Sambadromo in the Men’s Individual Compound – Open competition 1/16 Elimination. It was a good morning for Nathan who defeated Shaun Anderson of South Africa 144- 129 to progress to the 1/8 round. Unfortunately, Nathan didn’t progress further in the competition after a narrow 138-133 defeat to Andre Shelby of the USA.

Nathan, a silver medallist at this year’s European Championships, added:

”My experience at the Games has been awesome – and quite emotional. Archery has always been my first love and I couldn’t even pull a bow back two years ago, so to go from that to competing at the Paralympic Games is fantastic.”

 

With the addition of the three medals won today, the Scottish Medal Tally within the ParalympicsGB team stands at four gold, four silver and two bronze.

Day six of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro brought further success on the track for Scotland’s top sprinter with a visual impairment.

Athletics

Libby Clegg had qualified comfortably for the final of the T11 200m with a win in a time of 25.24 in the previous day’s semi-final as the fourth fastest qualifier. In the final, Libby powered to victory and an impressive sprint double in a race that she dominated with her guide Chris Clarke. Their task had been made easier by the absence of home favourite Terezinha Guilhermina, who was disqualified after a false start. In addition, her winning time of 24.51 seconds also erased Guilhermina’s Paralympic Games record from London 2012.

Libby’s gold was ParalympicsGB’s 11th in the track and field campaign, equalling their total from London 2012.

Following her race Libby said:

“I’ve massively surprised myself. I’ve had a really tough year and if you’d ask me ten months ago, I’d have said this wasn’t possible”.

“When I moved into this classification I was pretty daunted and nervous but Chris has been amazing. He’s an incredible guide and has really helped me get through this”.

“We’ve got the World Championships next year and I can’t wait to get back into that stadium in London and race in front of my home crowd again.”

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid had qualified for the quarter-final of the wheelchair tennis men’s singles competition following a 6-0, 6-2 defeat of France’s Frederic Cattaneo. Gordon was now drawn against Gustavo Fernandez from Argentina for a spot in the semi-final. The Wimbledon and Australian Open singles champion from Alexandria didn’t let the pressure get to him and beat Fernandez, the fifth seed, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 to set up a semi-final tie against France’s Stephane Houdet.

Gordon and partner Alfie Hewett faced Japan’s Shingo Kunieda and Satoshi Saida in the men’s doubles semi-final after beating Daniel Caverzaschi and Martin de la Puente from Spain 6-2, 6-0 in the quarter-finals. The doubles second seeds beat the Japanese, the sixth seeds, 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 27 minutes. The GB pair will now face Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France in the final following their 6-2, 7-5 victory over Japan’s Takuya Miki and Takashi Sanada.

Gordon said:

“We’ve been playing together about two years now and all the hard work has paid off this week. We didn’t actually expect to play the Japanese in this match as they upset the French pair in the quarters but we changed our tactics and it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we know our game can beat anyone.”

Boccia

Following the disappointment of narrowly missing out on the medals in the pair’s and teams competitions, it was back to business for GB’s Boccia players with the preliminary group matches in the individual competition.

In Pool C of the BC2 competition, Perth’s Josh Rowe had been dealt a tough opening fixture against Worawut Saegampa from Thailand. Josh opened with a 10-0 defeat to Saengampa before following that with a 7-2 defeat to Portugal’s Cristina Goncalves.

The BC3 individual competition also got underway today and Dundonald’s Jamie McCowan came up against Grigorios Polychronidis from Greece in his opening match. This proved to be a tough encounter for Jamie who struggled to match the play of his opponent, losing the tie 9-1. Later in the day, Jamie was to face Australia’s Daniel Michel in his second Pool C match and despite putting up a spirited fight lost out 3-2.

Scott McCowan was also in action with his opening Pool A match in the BC3 competition with a tie against Nurulasyiqah Mohammad Taha from Singapore. It was to be a nervous encounter for Scott who lost two shot in the opening end but rallied to close out the match 3-2.

Patrick Wilson had been drawn a tricky opening Group G match against Mario Peixoto from Portugal. Patrick from Cardrona, controlled the tie from the outset and ran out the winner by 4-2.

Scotland’s BC4 players in the GB team, who narrowly missed out on a medal in the pair’s competition in Rio were also back in action today. BC4 Individual World Champion, Stephen McGuire had drawn Pedro Clara from Portugal in his opening fixture in Pool B. Stephen opened his individual bid with a 4-3 victory fighting back from being three down.

Stephen said:

“It was a very tough match. Pedro has been around the same amount of time I have. They’re always close games. We’re good friends off the court but it’s different on the court”.

“It was very tough, he took a 3-0 lead. I just maximised the opportunity I could and in the last end just tried to take court position. Luckily I did, and it was literally millimeters in it. I may have looked calm, we’ve been working a lot on court presence.”

Fife’s, Kieran Steer faced a difficult opening Pool C match against Brazil’s, Eliseu Dos Santos. Kieran from Dunfermline, lost 10-0 to the Brazillian, a silver medallist in the mixed pairs.

Wheelchair Basketball

Ayr’s Robyn Love is part of the GB women’s wheelchair basketball team who are now guaranteed their best ever result at a Paralympic Games after reaching the semi-finals in Rio. After finishing second in the pool stages, the women took on China in the quarter-final at the Rio Olympic Arena, with a match against either USA or Brazil in the semi-finals up for grabs.

They duly delivered, outscoring their opponents in every quarter apart from the last to record a 57-38 victory. Robyn contributed seven points to the GB win that will ensure they will contest a Paralympic medal match for the first time ever. GB will now face the USA in the semi-final after their emphatic 66-35 victory over Brasil.

 

Libby Clegg’s T11 200m gold medal win in the Olympic Stadium now means that the Scottish Medal Tally within the ParalympicsGB team stands at three gold, three silver and one bronze.

Day five of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro saw the Scots on the ParlympicsGB team involved in a busy programme of heats and finals across five sports.

Wheelchair Tennis

Gordon Reid had dispatched Dan Wallin from Sweden with ruthless efficiency in the second round of the men’s singles competition to line up a third round tie against Frederic Cattaneo from France. Gordon was in supreme form once again winning the match 6-0, 6-2 within 48 minutes.

The demands of the wheelchair tennis competition are considerable and Gordon was back on court later in the day with Alfie Hewitt for a men’s double’s quarter-final encounter against Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi and Martin de la Puente. The Wimbledon champions and number two seeds had beaten Ho Won Im and Ha Gel Lee from South Korea 6-1, 6,2 in the last round and again eased to a comfortable victory, winning 6-2, 6-0 to book their place in the semi-final.

Commenting after the match Gordon from Alexandria, said:

“We were playing really well as a team and our confidence continues to grow when we’re on court together”.

“Nothing has changed, we’re still here for that gold medal and we’re feeling good about it. The matches are getting serious now but that doesn’t change how I prepare, I just need to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Athletics

Libby Clegg was back on the track in the Olympic Stadium for the heats and semi-final of the T11 200m. Libby stormed to victory in the 100m on day two of the Games and was determined to add the 200m title to her list of achievements. In her heat, Libby ran a comfortable 25.90 to win and qualify for the semi-final later in the day.

In the semi-final, Libby and guide Chris Clarke ran 25.24 to qualify for tomorrow’s final fourth fastest overall.

Libby said:

“We have been really lucky with the heats and semi-finals today because they have been slower than some of the others which is good for us going into the final”.

“We were feeling really confident today and it’s nice to take it a bit easier in terms of time wise, we weren’t pushing max speed. We want to keep ourselves fresh for the final tomorrow evening so fingers crossed everything goes to plan and we execute our race.”

Swimming

Andrew Mullen qualified as sixth fastest in the men’s S5 50m freestyle heats in a time of 35.75 secs with Brazil’s Daniel Dias once again the firm favourite for the gold. Andrew then swan a personal best time of 34.87 to finish the final in fifth place.

Abby Kane also qualified for the final of the 400m freestyle S13, taking a second off her personal best to make the final as seventh fastest qualifier in 4:52.23. Abby, the youngest member of the ParalympicsGB team in Rio produced another personal best in the final to finish sixth in a time of 4:49.27. She will now look towards the 100m backstroke later this week.

Abby said;

“There is definitely room for improvement but I’ve got loads of time. This is all about experience and fun for me right now. I’m really buzzing for the backstroke now but I’ve got to wait a few days.”

Stephen Clegg, just failed to make his final after making his Games debut in the 400m freestyle S13. Clegg admitted a shoulder niggle had been plaguing his training and he clocked 4:23.07 to rank ninth in qualifying, missing progressing to the final by just over three seconds.

Boccia

GB’s BC4 Pairs team featuring Scotland’s Stephen McGuire and Kieran Steer along with Evie Edwards missed out on the bronze medal as Thailand fought back from being 2-0 down, to a 3-2 victory.

GB took control of the match going up 1-0 after the first end and doubled their lead after a comfortable second end.  However, the Thai team levelled the match in the third end by taking two and edged out GB by taking a single shot in the final end.

After the match Hamilton’s McGuire said:

“I’m not disappointed, I’m devastated, to be honest. It’s the third time I’ve finished fourth at the Paralympics”.

“We were in control of that match. The first two ends we played really well, really solid”.

“Even the third end, we went ball for ball, we had the balls to win it, we went to try and open it up. They only had one ball left but we didn’t quite execute there. That was the key end”.

“The last end was always going to be pressure, and again I had the shots, I just pulled them a little bit, so it was a game of two halves I suppose.”

Steer, from Fife, said:

“I’m pretty disappointed, we played amazingly through the whole contest, there were just one or two key balls in that game that we got wrong.”

7 a Side Football

Having agonisingly lost both their opening Group A matches 2-1, to Brazil and Ukraine, the GB Football 7 a Side squad couldn’t qualify for the semi-finals but had pride to play for in their final group match against the Republic of Ireland. GB enjoyed a comfortable 5-1 victory with four different players on the scoresheet and an own goal for Ireland, ensuring a third-place finish in Group A. GB will now face Argentina on Wednesday in the play off for fifth place in the tournament.

Well what can I say about the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games so far…

Well, let’s start at the beginning, shall we? The Opening Ceremony was one of the most incredible and powerful things I have ever had the opportunity and pleasure of watching. The way it began was just epic when a man in a wheelchair propelled himself down a 50 meter ramp to then go flying through the air – just something else. This was then followed by a series of dance numbers including one by a blind pair who performed beautifully in front of a giant screen. This is when the party really got started.

The athletes then came piling in country by country in alphabetical order, but by their Portuguese name (to many people’s confusion). The athletes were met by rapturous applause as they paraded around the stadium in their nations’ colours. Each country brought in a jigsaw piece and they were put together in the middle of the Maracana Stadium. Once the final country, Brazil, entered the stadium the final bit of the puzzle was laid to reveal an enormous heart which began to beat and flow around the Maracana and the line ‘everyone has the same heart’ was projected onto the stadium floor.

After another dance number – this time between female double leg amputeed dancing with a huge 10ft robot arm – the lighting of the Paralympic Flame began.

Four Torch bearers had the pleasure of carrying the Torch from the stadium door to the Cauldron in a relay formation. The second runner was an elderly lady who is officiating for athletics. Around half way through her stretch she had a stumble and fell and dropped the Torch. This was one of the most heart breaking and totally amazing moments I have every witnessed. When it became clear the lady was ok and was going to carry on, the stadium went into full-on applause with a standing ovation; it was an amazing moment that just proves we are all human but wee stumbles in the road should not stop us from completing our journey and our dreams.

The torch was then passed on to a former Brazilian athlete who is visually impaired and was running with a guide.

The final athlete to carry the flame was also a former Brazilian athlete who finished off the torch relay in dramatic style when eventually he got to the stairs which lead up to where the Cauldron was – at this point I should mention this athlete is in a wheelchair. The stadium was looking around as if to say well this is a bit awkward at the Paralympic Games but just as we were all wondering what was going to happen the stairs started to shake and move and out of nowhere the stairs suddenly had a ramp carved into them which he proceeded to climb. When he reached the top of this incredible ramp he lit the Paralympic Cauldron with his torch and the Games were officially opened.

Day 1

In the morning of Fay 1 I was lucky enough to get tickets to be in the audience of the Channel 4 TV show The Last Leg live from out here in Rio. It was a great experience and the guys on the show are genuinely so nice and friendly.

When I walked into the Olympic Park later that day I was totally blown away by how busy it was, the worries that had been floating about a few weeks ago that tickets weren’t selling were quickly gone when I walked into the Velodrome, and this is where my first day of sporting action started at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games where I witnessed GB’s first three gold medals of the Games, including Dame Sarah Story beating her GB team mate in the final of the woman’s 3000m in dramatic form when she caught Crystal Lane in just 2000m to clinch the Gold.

I then quickly moved across to the Aquatics Centre where the atmosphere was electric and managed to catch Ollie Hynd collecting GB’s fourth gold of the day. This was quickly followed by our fifth from Bethany Firth in the S14 100m Backstroke. I also saw my friend and fellow Scotsman Andrew Mullen collect his first medal of the Games which was a Bronze in the S5 200m freestyle.

What will Day 2 bring…?

Stefan Hoggan

 

Former staff sergeant Micky Yule was the last of the powerlifters to compete for ParalympicsGB in Rio yesterday, equalling his weight category PB to finish in sixth place of the men’s -65Kg.

Yule showed much of the determination that has taken him from injured soldier to Paralympic athlete in just a few years as he stepped up to confidently complete a 180kg lift in his first attempt. This equalled his personal best at this weight class, leaving him in third at the end of the first round after three athletes who opened with a higher weight missed their lifts.

The Help for Heroes Recovery Programme athlete then went on to raise the bar up to 184kg for his second attempt, but was unable to make the lift. Paul Kehinde from Nigeria lifted a new Paralympic record of 210kg, leaving Yule in sixth at the end of the second round.

Despite missing 184kg, Yule opted to increase the weight in his third lift to 187kg in an attempt to move up a place in the final rankings, but was unable to complete the lift. The result left him in sixth place, just 1kg behind Nikolaos Gkountanis from Greece.

In the third round, Kehinde won the gold with a 218kg lift, setting a new world record to leave Hu Peng from China with the Silver. After the competition the Nigerian lifer was permitted a fourth attempt to try and better the record he had just set, successfully lifting another new world record of 220kg.

Speaking after the competition, Yule said: “That was really hard today – I’ve never pressed more than 180kg in that weight category, so we knew we had to go big to keep up with the leading countries so we went for it. Rio only happens once and I would have regretted it if we hadn’t tried what we did today – but we live and learn, get stronger and move on to the next one.”

Commenting on Yule’s performance, British Weight Lifting Paralympic Performance Manager Tom Whittaker said: “It was fantastic to see Micky battling it out with the best in the world at his first Paralympic Games. He deserves huge credit after the commitment he has shown to the process required to perform at this level.”

Yule’s performance in Rio wouldn’t have been possible without the support and funding provided by the National Lottery and UK Sport.

Day four of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro brought a second gold medal for the Scots on the ParlympicsGB team.

Athletics

In 2014 Glasgow’s Jo Butterfield set a European record in the club throw while winning the event at the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships. The following year she added the World title at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Qatar, securing her place at the 2016 Paralympic Games.

It didn’t take Jo long to wrap up the Paralympic gold medal with a dominant display of throwing. Her first throw of 22.60 set a new Paralympic record and was swiftly followed by a massive throw of 22.81 to break her own world record.

Jo said:

“The last three throws were a little bit emotional, It’s just unbelievable, it’s what I’ve worked for and it feels so good to have done it”.

“Five years ago my life changed completely in a moment and sport has given me a massive boost and a reason to carry on.”

Sammi Kinghorn qualified for the final of the T53 400m courtesy of her 56.76 seconds fourth place finish in her heat. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for Sammi who finished sixth in her first Paralympics final before being disqualified for an infringement. The race was won by Zhou Hongzhuan of China in a world record time of 54.43secs, USA’s Chelsea McClammer took silver and Australia’s Angela Ballard bronze.

Sammi said;

“I’m not frustrated. I need to chill out and enjoy the whole experience. My mum and dad had everyone chanting my name. I’m still young, I’ve got a lot more to give.”

Cycling

Neil Fachie travelled to Rio as the reigning Tandem B Time Trial Paralympic champion following his gold medal at London 2012 and had high hopes of regaining his title in Rio.

But it wasn’t to be for Aberdeen’s Fachie, who won silver in the men’s B 1000m time trial alongside pilot Pete Mitchell. The British duo flew out of the starting gate but could not quite beat the sensational Paralympic record time of 59.822 set by Tristan Bangma and pilot Teun Mulder of the Netherlands and instead sped to silver in a time of 1:00.241.

Also competing in the men’s B 1000m time trial was pilot Craig MacLean and newcomer James Ball who had set the pace as the first British tandem to take to the track and finished in a very creditable fifth place.

Paratriathlon

Paratriathlon is making its Paralympic debut in Rio and there were high hope of Scottish success in the PT5 event with Dunfermline’s Alison Patrick and guide Hazel Smith from Edinburgh.

The race was always close and Patrick and Smith were in silver medal position after the cycle stage. Often the strongest runner in the field, Patrick said she struggled with the intense heat on the hottest day of the Games so far. The pair claimed silver in the women’s PT5 race with a time of 1:13:20 with Australia’s Katie Kelly dominating to win gold, crossing the line over minute ahead of her nearest rivals.

Alison said:

“We hadn’t seen them [the Australians] race all season so we didn’t know where they were at, but they were very strong. We felt the heat massively today on the run, which is normally my strength and where I’d usually make up any time that I’d lost on anyone, but it was just so tough today.”

Wheelchair Tennis

Following Gordon Reid’s Wimbledon and Australian Open titles earlier this year there was real hope of medals in the wheelchair tennis competition at Rio. Gordon entered the men’s singles competition as third seed at the second round and faced Dan Wallin from Sweden. Gordon was on top form in this match to dispatch the Swede 6-1, 6-2.

Gordon was back on court later in the day with Alfie Hewitt for a men’s doubles second round tie against Ho Won Im and Ha Gel Lee from South Korea. It proved to be a one sided encounter with the GB pair winning 6-1, 6-2.

Gordon said:

“It feels like such a long time that I’ve been waiting to get started out here at Rio 2016 and I’ve been watching all my teammates play the past few days just itching to get on court.

“I’ve proved how I can really perform on the big stage and I thrive on large stadiums and crowds as I want to show off our sport and let people see how fantastic wheelchair tennis is”.

“I was lucky to have amazing backing at Wimbledon when I won the inaugural title there and I’ve got about 20 friends and family out here all dressed in Team Reid items and chanting. I don’t find it distracting at all, it just spurs me on.”

Wheelchair Basketball

Following yesterday’s 50-45 win over reigning Paralympic champions Germany in the Rio Olympic Arena the GB women’s team faced a final Group A match against hosts Brazil. GB secured their place in the knockout stages as head coach Miles Thompson’s team took control and silenced the home crowd to secure a 32-63 victory.

Boccia

GB were back in action in the pairs and team Boccia competitions with Scots Stephen McGuire and Kieran Steer, along with Evie Edwards, competing in the BC4 Pairs semi-final against hosts Brazil after they drew 2-2 with Hong Kong to top the pool. It proved to be a lively atmosphere but in the end it was the home favourites who emerged victorious 4-2 to progress into the gold medal match.

It means GB must now turn their attention to facing Thailand on 12 September in their quest to better the fourth place finish achieved at London 2012.

Stephen said:

“Brazil have always played that sort of game, they’re very strong in that area. We tried to play to our strengths but we didn’t quite execute in the right areas”.

“They have home advantage, saying that we could have played a bit better. We are disappointed but we’ve still got a bronze medal to go for and we want to win it.”

Elsewhere, GB and Perth’s Joshua Rowe, saw their BC1-2 Team campaign ended at the quarter-final stage after an 11-0 defeat to Thailand.

The BC3 Pairs team of Scott McCowan, Patrick Wilson and Jamie McCowan won their final pool game against Singapore 3-1 but it was not enough to progress and they will now turn their attention to the individual event.

Scott said:

“We played well, we got that win and that gives us confidence going into the individuals”.

“We’re all great players still and we’ve got a chance of going far in the next competition. We’ve just got to take than on going forwards.”

The three medals won today bring Scotland’s medal haul within the ParalympicsGB team to 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze.

Day three of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro brought a busy schedule of sports and event for the Scots on the ParlympicsGB team.

Judo

It had been a tough day of competition in the Men’s 90kg category for Edinburgh’s Sam Ingram who had represented GB at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, where he won the 90kg bronze medal and four years later went one better winning silver at the London 2012 Games.

Sam got off to a challenging start in Rio losing his quarter-final fight to Jorge Hierrezuelo of Cuba after being held down in the final minute. He then moved into the repechage where he defeated Haruka Hirose of Japan. With two fights away from a bronze medal Sam managed to beat Arthur Cavalcante Da Silva who was fighting on home turf. With a second bronze medal in sight Sam met USA Judoka Dartanyon Crockett, where his medal hopes came to an end. Unfortunately on this occasion Sam was unable to make the medal podium, but finished a very respectable fifth place.

Sam commented;

“To be honest, I underperformed in this tournament and the referee’s decisions didn’t go my way. Sometimes in judo you need things to just go your way as well”.

“All of these guys from around the world are training day in, day out, in big set-ups with loads of training partners and they’re all within institutes of sport. The Paralympic movement has moved on massively, as the Olympics has”.

“You can see it in every sport. In judo, I wouldn’t predict a gold medal because it’s unpredictable, but for our young guys, the sky’s the limit.”

Powerlifting

Micky Yule represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 finishing in 4th place in the Men’s Heavyweight category and in 2015 he won the gold medal in the up to 80Kg weight class at the  IPC Powerlifting European Championships.

Edinburgh’s Yule, competing in his first Paralympic Games in Rio, finished in sixth place in the men’s -65kg class recording a best lift of 180kg in the first round before failures at 184kg and 187kg.

Gold went to Nigeria’s Paul Kehinde with a world record lift of 218kg.

Micky said:

“That was hard today – the coaches and I knew we had to open big to be in with a chance of keeping up with the stronger nations so we went for it.

“I’ve never lifted more than 180kg in that weight category before but Rio only happens once and I would rather go out there and try than regret not doing so.”

Swimming

Glasgow’s Andrew Mullen was back in the pool for the S5 50m Butterfly following his bronze medal success in the S5 200m Freestyle on day one of the Games. Andrew secured a new personal best and European record but still missed out on a medal at the Olympic Aquatic Centre.

Andrew swam 36.32, three tenths of second behind Brazilian bronze medallist Daniel Dias, while American Roy Perkins took gold ahead of China’s He Shiwei.

Athletics

Following her fifth place finish in the T53 100m, Sammi Kinghorn was back on the track to compete in the heats of the of the T53 400m. Sammi finished fourth in her heat in 56.76 seconds and qualified for the final in one of the fastest loser spots. The T53 400m final takes place at the Olympic Stadium tomorrow, 11 September.

Wheelchair Basketball

Following yesterday’s 79-20 victory over Argentina, Robyn Love and the GB Women’s Basketball Team faced a tougher test against a German side who defeated Brazil in their previous Group A match. A strong third quarter performance by the GB women’s helped them complete a 50-45 win over reigning Paralympic champions Germany in the Rio Olympic Arena. Their final Group A match is against hosts Brazil tomorrow. 11 September.

Boccia

This was the opening matches for the Boccia team and pair’s competitions and it was a busy opening schedule for the Scots within the GB team.

The BC1-2 team, including Josh Rowe, won their opening group game 11-2 against the Netherlands but then slipped to a 10-4 defeat to Japan and will now face Thailand in Sunday’s quarter-finals.

In the BC3 Pairs competition, Scott and Jamie McCowan and Patrick Wilson will now face Singapore, after suffering a 4-3 defeat to Portugal and a 4-1 loss to Greece.

In the BC4 Pairs event, Stephen McGuire and Kieran Steer will take on Hong Kong China in their final pool game after a 4-2 win over Slovakia and an 11-4 defeat of Portugal.

Football 7 a Side

David Porcher’s goal in the opening Group A match of the Football 7 a Side competition had not been enough for GB as they suffered an agonising 2-1 defeat to Brazil. Up next was a match against world number one Ukraine and a win was essential if GB were to progress to the medal matches. It wasn’t to be for GB who endured another agonising 2-1 defeat against the two-time Paralympic champions. After falling behind, Michael Barker brought the GB team level at the start of the second half but Artem Krasylnykov scored Ukraine’s winner from the penalty spot.

Archery

Polbeth’s Natathan McQueen was Scotland’s only representative on the ParalympicsGB Archery team and was in Rio to compete in the Individual Compound Open competition. Nathan shot well, finishing the day in fifth place with a score of 681 with Bulent Korkmaz from Turkey leading the way with 687. Nathan was the best of the British males in the individual compound and will now face South Africa’s Shaun Anderson on 14 September

Nathan along with Jodie Grinham are through to the quarter-finals of the mixed team compound open on a bye and will face fourth seeds Italy on 12 September after ranking fifth overall.

Day two of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro brought further success for the ParalympicsGB team and medals for two Scottish athletes on the track.

Athletics

Libby Clegg had qualified comfortably for the semi-final of the T11 100m after an impressive time of 12.17 in her heat. Libby and guide Chris Clarke then progressed to the T11 100m final but only after a nervous wait. The duo had qualified fastest, setting a new world record time of 11.91 in the semi-final, but were then disqualified due to a mid-race infringement before a successful appeal saw them reinstated.

The pair regrouped and edged out the opposition in a tightly contested final to take the gold medal in a time of 11.96 ahead of China’s Zhou Guohua by two hundredths of a second.

Libby said:

“It’s not really hit me just yet. I’m over the moon, we ran a pretty similar time to the semi-final so I’m pleased with that”.

“These things (the events earlier in the day) happen and you’ve just got to get on with it really and hope for the best”.

“I’ve got an amazing team behind me. My training group are there day in day out and obviously there’s Chris as well”.

“He has been fantastic. I had a change of guides back in November and then Chris and I started working together in February. It’s been a quick process.”

Stef Reid was also in action on day two of the Games competing in the T44 Long Jump. Stef was determined to go one better than her performance in London in 2012 where she won the silver medal with a jump of 5.28m. In 2014, Stef jumped to victory and a world record in the F44 Long Jump at the Diamond League meeting in Glasgow.

However, Stef had to settle for the silver medal in Rio, recording a best effort of 5.64m. France’s Marie-Amelie Le Fur took gold with a world record leap of 5.83m.

Reid said:

“Marie jumped further than I’ve ever jumped. Hats off to her, I’m just really pleased at the way our event has progressed.”

“I think I did some really great things in terms of my jumping and I’m just so thankful to my coach and to the team around me who have got me here. I’m proud of what I did.”

“I didn’t realise I was the first athletics medal for ParalympicsGB in Rio. It’s great to get us off to a great start.”

Wheelchair Basketball

Following yesterday’s excellent victory over World Champions, Canada, Robyn Love and the GB Women’s Basketball Team were back on court against an Argentinian team who had lost their opening match against Brazil by 85-19.

GB returned to winning ways with an emphatic 79-20 defeat of the Argentinians and will face a much tougher test when they face Germany in their next Group A match on 10 September.

 

The successes on the athletic track on day two of the Rio Games means that Scots now have a full set of medals with one gold, one silver and one bronze.