There was plenty of action on day four in Paris as the Scots scooped up a further three medals and set another world record, on Sunday 1st September.
It was a second medal in Paris for Jenny Holl, who piloted Sophie Unwin to gold in the women’s B 3000m individual pursuit.
“We’ve completed the set now, when you include our Tokyo medals, we’re done!” Exclaimed Jenny.
The pair made their intentions very clear after qualifying for the final with a new world best time of 3:17.643. Although they couldn’t catch their own blistering time in the final, the duo took the title with another impressive time of 3:19.149, a gap of 2.166 seconds to second placed Katie George-Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal (IRL).
“We needed to do something new, we came second at the World Champs this year. We had nothing more than that, that’s what we had then. We didn’t want another silver medal.” Said Holl, the 24-year-old from Blair Drummond.
The win takes their medal tally to one gold and one silver in Paris.
Neil Fachie, piloted by Matt Rotherham, sealed silver in the men’s B 1000m time trial in the velodrome. The defending champion headed into the final with the fourth fastest time of 1:00.543. In order to guarantee a podium finish the pair would have to break the one minute barrier. Despite achieving this and clocking a time of 59.312, teammate James Ball and pilot Steffan Lloyd bettered the duo by 0.348 seconds. A thrilling final and first medal in Paris for Neil and Matt.
“I think we’re both proud of ourselves. We came for the gold but it was always going to be hard. I thought we rode really well all day today, we executed the plan the way we wanted it to. Our opening lap has been mega, but I felt like I didn’t have the legs at the end of the race today and that’s where our teammates had the better of us. It’s the only time they’ve ever gone quicker than us so fair play to them, I think we can be really proud of ourselves, we couldn’t have done more today.” Said Neil.
From the Para cycling track to the Para athletics track, both Melanie Woods and Sammi Kinghorn were in action in the 800m T54 and T53 respectively.
Melanie clocked a new PB time of 1:45.81 to finish third in her heat and bag her spot in the 800m final T54. The Para athlete from Glasgow put in another solid performance in the final, setting another PB time of 1:43.85 to finish fifth.
Sammi Kinghorn had a straight final of the women’s 800m T53 and claimed silver behind Catherine Debrunner (SUI) who retained her Paralympic crown.
Sammi secured the silver medal with a superb time of 1:42.96.
In boccia, the dream of finally winning a Paralympic medal has come true for Stephen McGuire as he progresses to the gold medal final of the men’s individual BC4 competition (Monday 2nd, 4pm BST).
Stephen leaned on his years of experience and kept his cool to beat Davor Komar 5-3 in the semifinal (1-0, 3-0, 1-0, 0-3).
“It’s incredible. It’s 20 years hard work, I’ve wanted this for 20 years. I’ve been working with my coach for 10 years so it’s been a long, long process. To finally get that medal for myself and ParalympicsGB is a dream come true.” Said Stephen.
Reflecting on his semifinal performance, the 40-year-old from Hamiltonn said: “He [Davor] is European champion so it was always going to be a tough game but I just battled. I got the angles I needed, put him under pressure and scored points at critical moments, which was key.”
A Paralympic medal is the only medal that Stephen hasn’t got. The only question that remains now, is will it be silver or gold.
“I’ll certainly enjoy the final. I perform well in finals, there’s no pressure as you’ve made it to the end. I’ve enjoyed the whole event and I will enjoy the final.”
Stephen will face Colombia’s Edilson Chica Chica in the tomorrow’s (2nd) final.
Meanwhile Edinburgh’s Patrick Wilson’s Paralympic campaign came to an end when Croatia’s Damian Iskrzycki (with ramp operator, Dariusz Borowski) defeated him 4-1, in the men’s individual BC3 quarterfinal.
“Pretty gutted. I was trying to do the right things but they weren’t coming off. I almost came back in the third end but it didn’t quite happen.” Said Paddy.
Reflecting on the game, he said: “I definitely belong here but at the moment need to put it all behind me.”
“We can never forget the support we have. Great support from friends and family.”
Despite the loss, Patrick (with ramp operator Meredith Greenwood) put in a solid performance in what was an extremely competitive event.
It was a nail-biting quarter final in Para archery, with Nathan Macqueen up for Great Britain in the men’s individual compound. Nathan was beaten by just one point (143-142) by the American Matt Stutzman (the ‘armless archer’).
“I think it was lost on the first end. I shot 9-8-9 and if I hadn’t done that, I would have had him. I’ve shot against him before but never in this kind of setting, final-style.” Said Nathan.
“It’s quite hard, it was noisy – I thought I was up against a Frenchman for a second. I’ll chill now, see my family – I shot really well, it was just that first end. I’m happy and I’ll go into tomorrow (mixed team) with confidence.”
Nathan will play alongside Jodie Grinham in the Mixed Team Compound Open Quarterfinal, tomorrow (2nd) at 4:50pm BST.
Faye Rogers made headlines in the pool this morning by breaking the Scottish record in the women’s 100m freestyle S10, with a time of 1:01.90. After finishing joint third in the morning heats with Columbian swimmer Maria Paula Barrera Zapata, Faye was forced to compete in a swim-off but missed out on a Paralympic debut final by 0.06 seconds.
“I couldn’t be happier. I know I didn’t win and didn’t make the final but it was a huge PB and I can’t ask for much more than that and the first time I’ve been under 62 seconds which is cool.” Said Faye.
She continued to say: “The crowd is motivating me so much. I wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with it but it’s the coolest thing ever. I get so excited walking out and I’m trying to stop grinning the whole time which is really hard as I actually love it.”
It was a solid start in Paris for Gordon Reid, who took the win in both opening pool matches in the men’s wheelchair tennis singles and doubles.
He cruised to victory in the singles first, beating Sri Lanka’s Suresh Dharmasena 6-0, 6-0.
“I’m happy with that as a starting point. He can be a tricky opponent, if you give him time he can strike a good ball so I think I made it uncomfortable for him. For the first match, to get used to the conditions, courts, match play, I’m happy with the start.” Said Gordon.
Gordon, who is ranked number five, will face Japan’s Takuya Miki (ninth seed) tomorrow (2nd) at 11am BST.
The Scot had a few hours to rest and recharge ahead of his doubles game with Alfie Hewett against Chile’s Alexander Cataldo and Bryan Tapia. The duo left plenty in the tank though to take the game 6-1, 6-3.
It’s a fifth consecutive Paralympic Games for Gordon and together with Alfie, they’ll be searching for the one big doubles title that has eluded them so far.
In wheelchair basketball, it was another defeat for Robyn Love and Jodie Waite, after losing to Canada in yesterday’s pool game and today to the People’s Republic of China.
The People’s Republic of China continued their winning streak to remain undefeated in their pool in Paris. Despite a thrilling fourth quarter, the final score read 47-62 (9-16, 13-18, 9-11, 16-17). The result of tonight’s Canada versus Spain game, will determine where Great Britain finish in Pool A.
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.
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