The 2016 SDS National Senior Athletics Championships were held on Wednesday 14 September at Grangemouth Athletics Stadium in partnership with scottishathletics. With news of Scottish success winging its way from Rio and providing inspiration to the 250 plus athletes from branches around Scotland the action got underway with the 1500m. SDS Academy athlete Owen Miller finished just outside the Championship Record he claimed at last year’s event to claim gold from his talented stable-mate Sam Fernando. West of Scotland’s T20 athlete Margaret Newell secured the female title to add alongside her 800m and Long Jump titles she garnered later in the day. Dumfries and Galloway’s T54 athlete Sean Frame eased home as fastest wheelchair athlete before completing a clean sweep of titles ahead of fellow Red Star athlete’s Kyle Brotherton and Luke Deighan.

There was an intriguing contest in the female wheelchair sections where Fife’s inexperienced Susanne McGrath faced up against the youthful exuberance of Tayside’s Murran McKay. The younger athlete won the tight contests this year but as both athletes gain more experience expect these battles to continue again next year.

Jennifer Power from West of Scotland proved to be invincible on the track with three golds in the 100, 200m and relay.

Local athlete George Le Hardy won two impressive golds in the 200m and 400m events finishing in front of West of Scotland’s Robert Ferrol in the former and Forth Valley’s Steven Stone in the latter. In the thrilling 4 x 400m event that culminated the track events – which saw Owen Miller chasing down West of Scotland’s Alexander Thomson in the last leg to win for Fife – Le Hardy, who anchored the, Forth Valley team to third place, ran the fastest lap of the race in 54.05.

Following last year’s long list of Championship Records tumbling, 2016 proved a relatively fallow Championships with just two records falling. Michael Mellon (Fife) bettered his own javelin record by 53cm and Dumfries & Galloway’s Lee Lower did likewise by adding 2cm to his existing seated javelin throw record.

The leading team at this event win the prestigious AR Mitchell trophy named after the late former chair of the precursor to Scottish Disability Sport – the Scottish Sports Association for the Disabled (SSAD). The two super powers of West of Scotland and Fife tend to contest this trophy each year and this year proved no different, with a notable mention to the efforts of Forth Valley who finished in third place on their home patch. Fife’s strength in depth proved to be the difference this year as they retained the trophy they won last year in Perth. Hopefully this serves to inspire other areas in Scotland to identify athletes to bolster their teams with a view to wresting the title from the Kingdom’s grasp.

The event missed the considerable input of the ubiquitous Shona Malcolm OBE and Janice Eaglesham MBE who were both out in Rio supporting the athletes they had worked so hard with. Replacing these lynchpins of the Senior Championships is next to impossible so thanks must go to Claire Archbold and Alisdhair Love from scottishathletics who so ably assisted throughout. We are extremely grateful to the efforts of the sizeable volunteer group from scottishathletics without which, would make this event impossible.

 

Scottish Disability Sport: Reflections on the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

The Rio Paralympic Games in 2016 did not disappoint as the event proved to be both hugely inspirational and successful.

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) wish to congratulate ParalympicsGB on the tremendous performances at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and we hope to see more people with a disability feeling inspired to take up sport as we head into the Tokyo 2020 cycle.  Well done to all the athletes, players and support staff who proved they are amongst the very best performance athletes in the world.  There were many outstanding results, incredible role models and remarkable stories played out during the past 11 days.  A full list of results can be found at www.rio2016.com/en or www.paralympics.org.uk

ParalympicsGB will return from Rio with 64 gold medals, which equates to 12% of all gold medals awarded and the best performance since Tel Aviv in 1968.  The total medal count of 147 is the highest return from a British team since the Paralympic Games in Seoul in 1988.  The exceptional performances of the athletes ensured that the 121 medal target set by UK Sport was comfortably surpassed as ParalympicsGB finished second in the medal table behind China.

 

A Scottish Perspective

SDS pays tribute to the 33 Scottish athletes that competed for ParalympicsGB across 12 sports, all of whom made a significant contribution to the overall success of the team, ensuring that the GB team are amongst the world’s elite in para sport.  Scottish athletes and players on the ParalympicsGB team can be immensely proud of their contribution as they will return home with a total of seventeen medals which were won by eleven athletes across five sports.  Notably 33% of Scots on ParalympicsGB reached the podium!  The medal haul includes five gold, eight silver and four bronze medals, accounting for 11.5% of ParalympicGB medals won.  This is the highest medal tally for Scots at a Paralympic Games since Sydney 2000.

The table shows the performance of each of the five sports:

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games: Scottish Medal Table
Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	TOTAL
Athletics	3	2	2	7
Cycling	1	1	0	2
Para triathlon	0	1	0	1
Swimming	0	3	2	5
Wheelchair Tennis	1	1	0	2
TOTAL	5	8	4	17

 

Scottish Medal Winners

Gold
Libby Clegg (Athletics): T11 100m
Libby Clegg (Athletics): T11 200m
Jo Butterfield (Athletics): F51 Club Throw
Karen Darke (Cycling): H1-2-3 Time Trial
Gordon Reid (Wheelchair Tennis): Open Singles

Silver
Stef Reid (Athletics): T44 Long Jump
Maria Lyle (Athletics): T35 4x100m relay
Neil Fachie (Cycling): B 1000m Time Trial
Alison Patrick / Hazel Smith (Guide) (Para Triathlon): PT5
Scott Quin (Swimming): SB14 100m Breaststroke
Abby Kane (Swimming): S13 100m Backstroke
Andrew Mullen (Swimming): S5 50m Backstroke
Gordon Reid (Wheelchair Tennis): Open Doubles

Bronze
Maria Lyle (Athletics): T35 100m
Maria Lyle (Athletics): T35 200m
Andrew Mullen (Swimming): S5 200m Freestyle
Andre Mullen (Swimming): S5 100m Freestyle

For a full list of Scottish results please click here.

Once again the Scots excelled on the Paralympic stage whilst making a significant contribution to the medal tally of ParalympicsGB, with eleven Scots reaching the podium.  These athletes produced many memorable highlights over the course of the Games however, the double gold from Libby Clegg in the T11 100m and 200m stands out; as does Gordon Reid’s gold and silver medals in the wheelchair tennis singles and doubles respectively.  Maria Lyle (athletics) and Andrew Mullen (swimming) won the most medals with three apiece, whilst ParalympicsGB’s youngest competitor Abby Kane, aged 13, won silver in the S13 100m Backstroke!

There were many inspirational moments throughout the course of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and SDS congratulate all of our athletes and support staff.

Any person with a disability who has been inspired by events in Rio should contact SDS on 0131 317 1130 or admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

In addition, local and regional contacts can be accessed on the following links:

SDS Branches:

https://scottishdisabilitysport.com/about-sds/branch-contacts/

Regional Development Managers:

https://scottishdisabilitysport.com/regional-managers/

Day eleven saw the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro draw to a close with the Marathon one of the final events of the Games.

Athletics

Fife’s Derek Rae was the only Scot in action on the final day of the Games but was forced to withdraw from the Men’s T46 marathon around the 30Km mark. Derek had moved up to fourth place in tough conditions in Brazil at that stage but due to the extreme heat, was unable to continue. The race was won by China’s Li Chaoyan in 2:33:35.

We commiserate with Derek, who is coached by Ron Morrison and Don MacGregor, after such strong performances over the past couple of years to reach this global level.

 

ParalympicsGB will return from Rio with 64 gold medals, the most gold medals and indeed most medals of any British Paralympic team since Seoul 1988 – and won 12% of all gold medals awarded at the Games, which is the best performance since Tel Aviv in 1968.

Scottish athletes and players on the ParalympicsGB team will return home with five gold, eight silver and four bronze medals, accounting for 11.5% of ParalympicGB medals won and the highest medal tally for Scots at a Paralympic Games since Sydney 2000.

Day ten of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro saw Scots contribute a silver and two bronze to the ParalympicsGB medal tally.

Swimming           

Abby Kane from Largs, the youngest member of ParalympicsGB team at just 13, was the fastest qualifier for the S13 100m Backstroke final, with a time of 1:09.09 in her heat, a new Paralympic Record and a two second personal best.

Abby started the final strongly but Ukraine’s Anna Stetsenko, used her strength and experience to good effect to take the lead after the turn. Stetsenko powered home to take the gold in 1:08.30, a new Paralympic Record. Abby finished second in 1:09.30 for the silver medal while Australia’s Katja Dedekind took bronze in 1:12.25.

Following the race, Abby said,

“I don’t know how I feel, I’m speechless but so, so happy.  I didn’t even expect to get to Rio let alone medal; it’s a lot to take in”

“I’ve loved being part of ParalympicsGB and have got on really well with everyone on the swimming team. It’s been an amazing experience and I’ve got to know people here that my brother (Fraser) knew when he competed so that’s been really special.”

Next into the pool was Glasgow’s Andrew Mullen in the S5 100m Freestyle final, an event he won gold at in Funchal earlier in the year at the IPC Swimming European Championships. Andrew was up against familiar rivals in Brazil’s Daniel Dias and Roy Perkins from the USA but he flew off the blocks and again had a superb under water phase. Mullen already had 50m Backstroke silver and 200m Freestyle bronze to his name from Rio and finished the race in 1:15.93 to add a second bronze to his Rio collection.

Andrew said:

“I’m super pleased with that, it’s been a fantastic Games for me. Coming into this meet, I had no Paralympic medals and now I’ve got three”.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to be a Paralympic medallist, so now I’m looking to build on this in the future”.

“I think coming fourth at London was good for me, I was only young and I was able to learn a lot from it, and I think the experience I’ve been able to accumulate over the four years since has enabled me to stand on the biggest stage.”

Athletics

Dunbar’s Maria Lyle has come of age at the Paralympic Games as she clinched her third medal with bronze in the T35 200m in Rio. Maria, who won silver and bronze in the 4x100m relay and 100m respectively set a new season’s best of 29.35, crossing the line over three seconds quicker than Italy’s Oxana Corso in fourth. The gold medal was taken by China’s Zhou Xia, who set a new world record of 28.22 secs, with Australian world champion Isis Holt taking silver.

Maria said:

“I liked doing the lap of honour because I didn’t do it after the 100m. It was a season’s best, which I am chuffed about”.

“Its brilliant to have won three medals at my first Paralympic Games. I couldn’t compete with the Chinese girl so I just needed to do my best. I’ve had a really good games considering I haven’t had the best preparations.”

Earlier in the day, Sammi Kinghorn smashed through her personal best to finish third in her T53 800m heat and qualify third fastest for the final. Sammi crossed the line in 1:48.89, just 0.52 seconds off the new Paralympic record set by China’s Zhou Hongzhuan in the same heat.

In the final,  Sammi put in a spirited performance to finish 6th in a time of 1:49.51 in what was her third final in Rio with the gold going to Zhou Hongzhuan in a world record 1:47.45.

Wheelchair Rugby

Despite a final group match victory over host nation Brazil by 52-32, GB were not able to make the semi-finals and instead faced a difficult 5^th/6^th play-off match against Sweden. GB and Glasgow’s Michael Kerr, secured their 5th place with a comfortable victory over the Swedes.

The first quarter was a close affair but coach Paul Shaw’s side then started to open up an advantage and were good value for their 56-42 victory. Despite failing short of their target of a first-ever medal at the Games, GB can still look back on this campaign with pride.

They lost to Games finalists Australia by just two points and were edged out in overtime by top seeds Canada, who lost to the United States in their semi-final. Fifth is a repeat of their performance at London 2012 but this team won last year’s European Championships in Finland and there is plenty of young talent that learn from their time in Rio and take this forward to Tokyo 2020.

Cycling

Former SDS Academy athlete, Steve Bate and guide Adam Duggleby added a third cycling medal of the day with bronze in the Men’s Tandem B Road Race.

 

The addition of the silver medal for Abby Kane and the bronze medals for Maria Lyle and Andrew Mullen brings the Scottish Medal Tally within the ParalympicsGB team to five gold, eight silver and four bronze.

Day nine of the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro resulted in the addition of a gold and a silver for two of the Scots within the ParalympicsGB team.

Wheelchair Tennis

Having missed out on the gold medal in the Men’s Doubles competition last night, Gordon Reid was determined not to let another gold slip through his fingers when he faced fellow Brit and doubles partner in the final of the Men’s Singles.

Gordon followed fellow Scot Andy Murray as he secured a famous double, adding Paralympic gold to his Wimbledon wheelchair tennis title in Rio. Gordon overpowered his teammate, winning 6-2, 6-1 in just 54 minutes.

The world number three said:

“There’s actually a picture of Andy Murray as you go out onto Centre Court and when I watched him win gold here last month, I knew I wanted to do the same”.

“I’m honoured to be talked about in the same breathe as him. The Olympians inspired us by getting the job done here in Rio. I felt confident and to have this gold around my neck ranks right alongside winning Wimbledon”

“As a team we’ve smashed our medal target and I can’t wait to share this moment with my friends and family out here, who’ve all lost their voices, as well as those back home.”.

“It really hasn’t sunk in yet what an amazing week I’ve had but to take home a gold and silver really tops off an incredible year for me”.

“I didn’t see this success coming and it was only before the US Open last year that I started working with a sports psych to help me enjoy my matches more and stop putting so much pressure on myself.”

Swimming

The first Scot to race in the pool today was Edinburgh’s Stephen Clegg who was competing in the heats of the Men’s S13 100m. It was a tightly contested heat and despite a good swim of 55.85, Stephen finished in 4^th place meaning he failed to qualify for the final.

Next into the pool was Glasgow’s Andrew Mullen in the heats of the Men’s S5 50m Backstroke. The eight-time European champion won his heat, qualifying second fastest for the final with a time of 37.77. Andrew sealed a stunning silver, stopping the clock in 37.94 as Brazil’s Daniel Dias won a popular gold.

After his race Andrew said:

“I go into every race wanting to win, that’s my personality, I like to think I can challenge anyone. But that was a fantastic swim from Daniel. I came away with a silver, so it’s bitter sweet.

“I’ve had a great week here, I’ve swam four races and swam three personal bests so I can’t really complain with that. It’s my second Paralympic record.”

Wheelchair Basketball

Ayr’s Robyn Love lined up in the GB team to face the Netherlands for the bronze medal match in the Women’s Wheelchair Basketball competition. GB had lost a competitive semi-final encounter against the USA by 89-78.

Unfortunately, the Netherlands won their second successive Paralympic bronze as they bounced back from a humbling semi-final defeat to Germany to beat GB 76-34. This was still a best-ever finish for a GB women’s wheelchair basketball team and, with a young team, boasting an average age of just 22, hopes are high for the future.

Wheelchair Rugby

Having been defeated in their opening group matches to Australia and Canada, Glasgow’s Michael Kerr was hoping for a fist win against Brazil to have any hope of progressing to the semi-finals. This was a match that GB won with ease, winning 52-32 to line up a play-off for fifth against Sweden, the same position they achieved at the London Games in 2012.

Cycling

Earlier in the week, Glasgow’s Hannah Dines had finished 5^th in the T1-2 competition and she was back in action today for the final of the Women’s T1-2 Road Race. In an experienced field, Hannah did remarkably well and clocked a time of 1:09:03 to finish in 5^th place once again. These Games were an excellent learning experience for Hannah who will undoubtedly be back for the Tokyo Games in 2020 faster and stronger.

 

The addition of the gold medal for Gordon Reid and silver medal for Andrew Mullen brings the Scottish Medal Tally within the ParalympicsGB team to five gold, seven silver and two bronze.

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid came away with the Rio Paralympic Tennis Event men’s doubles silver medal on Thursday’s penultimate day of competition as they prepare to go head-to-head for the gold medal in the men’s singles on Friday.

Wimbledon champions and second seeds Hewett and Reid recovered well after dropping the opening set to French top seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, breaking serve to lead 2-0 in the second set and taking the set with another break of serve.

However, Houdet and Peifer regained the momentum in the final set and eventually clinched the gold medal 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

ParalympicsGB’s fourth medal of the Paralympic Tennis Event will become an unprecedented six medals on Friday when third seed Reid and 13th seed Hewett also become the first Great Britain players to contest a Paralympic men’s singles final.

“The overriding feeling right now is disappointment but that’s because we gave ourselves a chance to win the gold and couldn’t quite keep the momentum going in the third set,” said 18-year-old Hewett, who is playing in his first Paralympics.

“If we’d been going home with one silver medal each, that would have been amazing but we both know we’re picking up another one tomorrow, so we’re going to enjoy every minute of it. We’ve never been in this situation before in a high profile match but we’ll prepare exactly the same and treat it like any other match and may the best man win.”

“The fightback in the second set took a lot of our energy and the French are such an experienced pair. Our coaches and everyone behind the scenes at the Tennis Foundation have worked so hard to get us to this point so this medal is for them as well,” said Reid.

“Tomorrow might not ever happen again with two Brits in the final, so we’ll enjoy the occasion and the fact we’re contributing plenty of medals from wheelchair tennis to the ParalympicsGB tally, which makes us very proud.”

Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

 

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.

[supsystic-gallery id=14 position=center]

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.