Tag: kayleigh haggo

18/10/2024

More Medals and Memories in Paris for Winning Students 100 Scholars and Alumni

By Winning Students 100 Communications Consultant, Brian Welsh

Medals were won and memories were made at Paris 2024 Paralympics by the seven ParalympicsGB athletes who have been supported by Winning Students 100*.

The overall performance of ParalympicsGB earned richly deserved headlines: the team finished second overall with 124 medals to meet the target of 100-140, there was medal success in all but one sport, while eight more golds were won in Paris than Tokyo three years ago with 49 golds the second-highest total achieved since Seoul 1988.

The golds won in Paris included an incredible six by Winning Students 100 scholars and alumni, but achievements were not restricted to podium finishes, with personal bests and debut performances generating memories galore.

Following last month’s review of the Paris Olympics 2024, let’s take a look at the heights reached by the class of Paris Paralympics 2024.

In the pool

Twelve ParalympicsGB athletes won multiple golds and Stephen Clegg was among them, his first arriving on day three after he won the S12 100m backstroke event with a new world record of 59.02. With this win, Clegg, who has a visual impairment, won his first Paralympic gold after securing a silver and two bronze medals at Tokyo 2021.

Even more was to follow when Clegg edged the men’s S12 100m butterfly final on the final day of competition in the pool. Clegg, who is world record holder in the event, touched home in 57.49 seconds at the end of a fiercely contested race.

Clegg was edged into fourth place in both the S12 100m freestyle final (missing out on bronze by 0.02secs) and the 4x100m freestyle final relay.

Faye Rogers shone just as brightly with a stunning Paralympics debut, taking gold in the women’s S10 100m butterfly after overhauling team-mate Callie-Ann Warrington, the eventual silver medallist, in the final 50m.

Rogers’ heroics didn’t start and end there – she also recorded a personal best in the women’s S10 100m freestyle as well as fifth placed finishes in both the SM10 200m Individual Medley final and S10 400m freestyle final.

Toni Shaw, who trains with Rogers in Aberdeen, made her second Paralympics appearance and was under a quarter of a second off bronze in the SM9 200m Individual Medley thanks to a season’s best of 2:37.88 in a thrilling final.

Others highlights for Shaw included making it to the S9 400m freestyle final where she finished fifth in another very competitive race, as well as finishing eighth in the S9 100m freestyle final.

On the court

There was triumph on the tennis court for men’s wheelchair doubles powerhouse Gordon Reid and his partner Alfie Hewett as they secured their first Paralympics gold medal together to complete a career “grand slam”.

After the agony of losing finals in both Rio and Tokyo, Reid and Hewett defeated Japan’s Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki 6-2 6-1 in the decider at Roland Garros cementing their status as the dominant force in men’s wheelchair doubles.

Reid also surged to the quarter-finals of the men’s wheelchair singles before losing out to Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina in straight sets, the second a narrow tiebreak.

Another Paralympics debut was enjoyed by Kayleigh Haggo in boccia, who finished a very credible eighth in the Women’s Individual BC2 competition.

Haggo, who switched from frame-running to boccia to secure her place in Paris, defeated European Championship silver medallist Ana Correia of Portugal 6-2 to earn a place in the quarter-finals where she lost out to Gischa Zayana of Poland who would go on to earn a bronze medal. Another of Kayleigh’s earlier opponents, South Korea’s Jeong Soyeong, won silver.

On the water

Para canoe brought further ParalympicsGB success including two stunning gold medals for Charlotte Henshaw and silver for Hope Gordon.

Henshaw won the inaugural Women’s VL3 event ahead of team-mate Hope Gordon, who claimed a brilliant silver on what was her Paralympics summer games debut, having only taken up paracanoe five years ago.

Henshaw then secured her second gold of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games as she successfully defended her KL2 title in an epic contest, setting a Paralympic record in the process. Henshaw’s Paralympic appearance in Paris marks the fifth Games of her career, having competed at Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 in Para swimming, before making the switch to paracanoe.

Congratulations!

Congratulations from everyone at Winning Students 100, sportscotland, Scottish Funding Council and all supporting universities and colleges to every scholar and alumni who competed so brilliantly at Paris Paralympics 2024.

*Two athletes, Faye Rogers and Toni Shaw, have been supported by Winning Students 100 while the other five athletes named in this article were supported by Winning Students, the previous rendition of the organisation.

Winning Students 100 scholars and alumni at Paris Paralympics 2024:

Paris Paralympics 2024
Name	Sport	Institution	Scholar / Alumni
Stephen Clegg	Para Swimming	University of Edinburgh	Alumni
Hope Gordon	Canoe	Edinburgh Napier University	Alumni
Kayleigh Haggo	Boccia	Ayrshire College	Alumni
Charlotte Henshaw	Canoe	University of Stirling	Alumni
Gordon Reid	Wheelchair Tennis	University of Stirling	Alumni
Faye Rogers	Para Swimming	University of Aberdeen	Scholar
Toni Shaw	Para Swimming	University of Aberdeen	Scholar

04/10/2024

“Girls can do sport, we’re really good at it!” The Scottish women that smashed the Paris 2024 Paralympics

In honour of Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week, here is a roundup of all the Scottish women that competed at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, and what female leadership in sport means to them.

By Bethany Lee

The Paris 2024 Paralympics was a whirlwind event that ended with ParalympicsGB in 2^nd place in the medals table. 21 Scots competed for the team and over half of them were women.

They are a testament to the greatness that can be achieved by women and girls in sport and that is what this week is all about (30 September to 6 October).

Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week aims to increase the visibility of female athletes and raise awareness for the benefits sport can have on physical, mental and social health and wellbeing.

This year a record breaking 46% of the ParalympicsGB team was female, including 11 Scottish women, whom all delivered incredible performances and brought home 11 medals.

Samantha Kinghorn smiling on the medals podium, holding her Paralympic gold medal and the Paralympic mascot. — Credit: ParalympicsGB

Samantha Kinghorn absolutely crushed it on the track winning her first Paralympic gold in the women’s 100m T53 with a time of 15.64, a new personal record. She also won four silver medals in Paris, bringing her to a total of six medals across three Paralympic games. There is no stopping Sammi!

Alongside Sammi in the Para athletics department was Glasgow’s Melanie Woods. Melanie herself used to be a Physical Education teacher, so she knows just how important female leadership is in sports. She left Paris with some huge personal best scores.

Scotland’s own Jenny Holl, pilot for tandem partner Sophie Urwin, had an incredible time in Paris absolutely dominating the track. The duo won two gold medals, as well as a silver and a bronze medal. Their gold in the women’s B Road race was particularly thrilling to watch, as they secured their win with an incredible final spirt.

Hope Gordon paddled her way to a silver medal in women’s 200m VL3 Para canoeing. The Scotswoman, originally from the Highlands, praised the women in her team in an interview with Scottish Disability Sport.

She said: “Within our team, the girls are super strong and it’s really cool to be a part of that. We got 8 medals, and the girls got 6 of those so it’s a strong team, especially on the female side.”

Hope Gordon paddling in a Para canoe race at the Paralympics — Credit: ParalympicsGB

Advising other women and girls hoping to get into sport, she said: “It’s just about taking opportunities and trying things, and just because you haven’t seen a female that looks like you doing the same sport, it doesn’t mean it’s not possible.”

She also praised all the women throughout her career working behind the scenes: “I also think that such a big part of performance sport that people forget about is the volunteers, especially in rural areas. We would be absolutely lost without volunteers, and a huge portion of those, in my experience, have been female.”

Kayleigh Haggo throwing a boccia ball at the Paralympics — Credit: ParalympicsGB/David Pearce

On the boccia court, Kayleigh Haggo was the only female athlete representing Scotland. She started playing boccia in 2022 and made her international debut last year. Despite not taking home a medal, Kayleigh made Scotland proud, winning many of her individual BC2 games.

Meanwhile in the Para triathlon, Dunfermline’s Alison Peasgood and her pilot Brooke Gillies, who have been competing together since 2021, narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the women’s PTVI event.

On the basketball court Scottish players Robyn Love and Jodie Waite competed for ParalympicsGB, smashing their way through the qualifiers and finishing fifth in the playoffs where they defeated Germany with a score of 48-39.

In the pool, Aberdeen’s Toni Shaw and University of Aberdeen’s Faye Rogers were giving it their all. Toni fought hard in the women’s 400m freestyle S9 final, finishing fifth. Faye took home a gold medal in the women’s 100m S10 Butterfly, a brilliant debut for her first Paralympics.

For Faye, encouraging women and girls to do sport is essential. Speaking to Scottish Disability Sport, she said: “I think sport can give you so many opportunities, obviously socially but it’s keeping fit and keeping healthy. It’s given me the opportunity to go to Paris and win a gold medal!

“None of that would have been possible without strong female role models. Representation always matters, being able to see someone who looks like you or has a similar disability to you or is the same gender as you, that matters, and it really helps.”

Faye diving off the board into the swimming pool during a race at the Paris 2024 Paralympics — Credit: ParalympicsGB

Faye also spoke out about the tendency for girls to avoid sport when they’re younger: “Girls can do sport, we’re really good at it. It’s a shame that in schools a lot of girls try and avoid it because honestly when you do get involved it’s so much fun and it’s a shame that so many girls miss out on that. You don’t have to be doing it at an elite level, but that’s okay too, it’s so much fun!”

There are so many opportunities that sport can provide, and anyone can get involved. Who knows, you might end up on the podium yourself one day.

Make to follow Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website.

04/09/2024

Sammi Kinghorn Adds Gold to Her Collection Whilst Jenny Holl Completes Her Medal Set, at Paris 2024

Sammi Kinghorn turns golden in Paralympic record style, on the seventh day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

The 28-year-old can finally call herself a Paralympic champion at these Games, after an outstanding race in the women’s 100m T53. The Scot flew down the Para athletics track to clock a new Paralympic record time of 15.64 seconds. She adds this gold to the two silvers she’s already picked-up at the Stade-de-France.

Para cycling waved goodbye to the velodrome and took to the roads on day seven. It was here that Jenny Holl piloted Sophie Unwin to a superb silver medal in the women’s B Individual Time Trial.

The Irish team made up of Katie George-Dunlevy and pilot Linda Kelly got the better over the Brits, going quicker than Jenny and Sophie by 1:23.60 seconds.

The silver completes the Paralympic medal set for the duo, after having taken gold and bronze earlier in Paris.

The Scots were again in action in Para swimming, with both Stephen Clegg and Toni Shaw making their evening finals.

The medals were just out of reach for Stephen who missed the podium by just over half a second, in the men’s 100m freestyle S12. He had to settle for fourth place behind the two Ukrainians and the Azerbaijan athletes. The same result was repeated in the final of the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay – 49 points, where Stephen represented the Scots in ParalympicsGB’s relay team.

Toni Shaw couldn’t match the world record pace of Australia’s Alexa Leary, in the women’s 100m freestyle S9. The swimmer from Aberdeen gave a great effort in a packed final, to finish eighth in a time of 1:05.60.

There was defeat and disappointment in the women’s wheelchair basketball, the boccia mixed team BC1/BC2 and the men’s wheelchair tennis singles, as all lost their quarterfinal matches.

Robyn Love and Jodie Waite’s dream of a Paralympic medal were squashed after a thrilling quarterfinal against the USA. The USA took advantage of Great Britain’s missed opportunities in the final quarter to steal the win, 59-52.

It was heartbreak in the boccia when Kayleigh Haggo, David Smith and Claire Taggart lost the tiebreak to Indonesia, which ended their Paralympic journey in Paris.

Gordon Reid also failed to advance further in the men’s singles tournament, after a fiercely contested quarterfinal against Gustavo Fernandez. The Argentinian rallied to a 6-0, 7-6 win over the Scot.

Gordon did find success in the men’s wheelchair tennis doubles though, where he and tennis partner Alfie Hewett beat the home favourites to advance to Friday’s gold medal game.

The duo beat France’s Frederic Cattaneo and Stephane Houdet 6-4, 6-3, which means they will battle it out for gold against Japan’s Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in two days time.

The Paris 2024 Paralympics runs from the 28th August – 8th September. You can follow all the action and find out how the 21 Scottish Para athletes get on by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website. You can catch all the action on Channel 4. More information here.

30/08/2024

Boccia Success Continues on Day 2 of the Paris 2024 Paralympics

Two out of three Scottish boccia athletes won their matches on Day 2 in Paris.

By Bethany Lee

It was another intense day for ParalympicsGB’s Scottish boccia athletes.

Stephen McGuire continued his winning streak and Kayleigh Haggo was victorious after a nail-bitting game. Patrick Wilson faced a tough match against the current world number one in the BC3 men’s division.

This morning, Stephen McGuire had his second win in the men’s individual BC4 game against Ukraine’s Artemis Kolinko.

He took an immediate lead with strategic shots and confidently closed the game with a 7-1 win.

Stephen said: “Artem is a pairs European champion so he’s a tough opponent. In terms of the structure of the group it was important to get that win so I’m very happy.”

“The dream is to get a medal for Paralympics GB. I’m just going to keep going through the rounds and see where that takes me. There’s less nerves this time out and I think that comes down to experience.”

Today’s win follows Stephen’s victorious 8-0 game yesterday.

He said: “Two wins out of two, I’ve got one group game left so fingers crossed. If I win that one, I’m through and I top the group so that’s my goal.”

Continuing Scotland’s success, Kayleigh Haggo returned to the court for the women’s individual BC2 game against Portugal’s Ana Correia.

After a close start, the fourth end saw Kayleigh secure a sweeping 6-2 win.

Kayleigh said: “I feel amazing. To get the first win, I can’t believe it.

“I’m really happy I’ve used what I’ve learned – I’ve played Ana three times in the last six months and won all three despite her being ranked higher than me. So it gives me a lot of confidence going forward.”

A busy day awaits Kayleigh tomorrow with the women’s individual BC2 quarterfinal.

She said: “I came here with no expectations and no pressure so to get into the quarterfinal would be amazing.”

The day ended with Patrick Wilson’s tough match against Daniel Michel (AUS), number one in the world in men’s BC3.

Australia are favourites in boccia at this year’s Paris 2024 Paralympics, and David is amongst their best competitors.

Despite leading strong with 2 points in the first end, Patrick missed out on the win by 7-2.

“He is the best in the world right now and he had to be at his best to beat me. I’m not out by any means so I come back tomorrow. I could be out tomorrow or be in – anything is possible. I had fun, I had a good time. That is why we come – for that.”

The Paris 2024 Paralympics runs from the 28th August – 8th September. You can follow all the action and find out how the 21 Scottish Para athletes get on by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram . 

You can catch all the action on Channel 4. More information here. 

30/08/2024

Paris 2024 Paralympics: Day 2 Review

Scots seal two medals on day two

The medals came in quick concession on day two of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, with both being won in the velodrome (Para cycling, track).

Fin Graham faced off against fellow ParalympicsGB teammate, Jaco van Gass, in the men’s C3 3000m individual pursuit. The Scot put in a tremendous performance but being four seconds off the golden time, he had to settle for silver.

“As we said coming into it, Jaco is the one to beat, reigning world champion and he was Paralympic champion in Tokyo. It has shown he is able to peak at the right time. In this event there is no hiding, strongest man on the day wins and today that was Jaco.”

The duo provided a lot of entertainment in the morning heats. Jaco leapfrogged Fin’s world record just minutes after the Scot set the new world best time.

“It was a carbon copy to Tokyo – I go out, break a world record and then I have it for about five minutes, I barely get off the bike before Jaco’s taken it off me!” Said Fin.

Also finding the podium was Scotland’s Jenny Holl, pilot for Sophie Unwin (England) in the women’s 1000m time trial.

The pair held their nerve as the six fastest faced off on the track in what was a thrilling final. The Scottish/English duo were just 0.3 seconds away from claiming the silver medal.

In other news, it was a positive result for Nathan Macqueen in Para archery, who felt right at home competing in the rain.

“We excel in shooting in the rain. It’s our weather. If it’s like this for the rest of the week I’ll be laughing”, said the Scot who qualified for the last 16 with a 142-138 win against Slovakia’s Martin Doric in the men’s individual compound open.

On his performance, Nathan said: “It went fairly well. My heart was in my mouth a little bit. I started pretty well but I was really emotional – I don’t know if it was because my family were out there. It feels like I’ve won the Paralympics and I’ve only won my first match. But here’s to the rest of it, we’ll put on a good show.”

The 33-year-old from Addiewell will meet Iran’s Hadi Nori on Sunday (1st).

On the boccia courts, although it was a first defeat for Patrick in Paris, Stephen’s winning ways continued and Kayleigh secured her first win of the Games.

Stephen was first up and faced Ukraine’s Artem Kolinko in the men’s BC4 singles second group game. The 40-year-old from Hamilton gave a convincing performance, winning 7-1.

“Artem is a pairs European champion so he’s a tough opponent with a good win in his first game. So in terms of the structure of the group it was important to get that win so I’m very happy”, said Stephen.

Looking ahead, he said: “Boccia can be quite a funny sport – you can have a good day and then a bad day so it’s about staying as consistent as possible. Two wins out of two, I’ve got one group game left so fingers crossed. If I win that one I’m through and I top the group so that’s my goal.”

In the women’s BC2 singles, Kayleigh Haggo took the win against Portugal’s Ana Correia in her second match. It’s the first win for Kayleigh in Paris, recording 6-2 on the board.

“I played fantastic yesterday, I was really happy with that performance. I didn’t play as well today but I got the win and that’s all that matters. Once I knew I’d won the game it was crucial to try and get some more points on the board as that’s really important for qualification to the quarterfinals. It’s a long wait to find out if I’m in or not.” Said the 25-year-old from Ayr.

The win for Kayleigh guarantees her a place in the women’s BC2 singles quarterfinals.

“I came here with no expectations and no pressure so to get into the quarterfinals would be amazing”, commented Kayleigh.

Patrick Wilson was last up out of the trio, waiting until 8:40pm for his second pool match. The Lothian athlete had a tough competition against Australia’s Daniel Michel.

Despite a strong start, taking the opening end by two points, the Australian fought back to win the remaining three ends. The end score being 7-2.

Patrick’s final pool game will be against South Africa’s Karabo Morapedi, tomorrow (31st).

Martin Perry and Will Bayley’s dreams of a medal in the Para table tennis doubles came to an end tonight when home favourites, Clement Berthier and Esteban Herrault (FRA), held on to the lead to secure their spot in the men’s doubles MD14 semifinals.

The British pair looked to have an incredible comeback. After trailing 0-2 the duo fought hard to draw equal before conceding the final game, 11-9. The final score being 3-2 (11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9).

“It was an unbelievable experience. To have that atmosphere, however many thousands of us there were against the two of us, we showed our character. We were two points away from a Paralympic medal.” Said Martin, following the match.

“We had all the momentum going into that fifth set, we had played exceptionally well to get there from 2-0 down. We always believed in each other. They are European champions, ranked two in the world. We have shown we can win major medals, we just need that bit of luck.”

Next up for Martin is the singles MS6 competition starting on Monday (2nd).