Following the spectacular Opening Ceremony of the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, it was time for the 33 Scots within ParalympicsGB to focus on the competition for medals on day one of the Games.
Swimming
It wasn’t long before the first Scottish medal of the Games had been secured. Scotland’s Toni Shaw had travelled to Tokyo for her Paralympic debut in confident mood which looked to be justified when she qualified for the Women’s S9 400m Freestyle final, recording the second-fastest qualifying time of 4:46.19 in her heat.
In the final, reigning world champion, Australia’s Lakeisha Patterson set the early pace and established a commanding lead. However, 18-year-old Toni swam the race of her life to be in contention for the medal places. In the end, the Scot finished with a lifetime best time of 4:39.32 to take the bronze medal behind Patterson (4:36.68) and Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly (4:36.76) with the gold and silver medals respectively.
After the race a delighted Toni said,
“I don’t know what to say, I’m just so happy right now. I just want to say hello to all my family and friends back home and the biggest thank you to them all because they are amazing.”
“It’s definitely been a difficult journey for everyone over the last year and without the help and support of my coach and family, I wouldn’t be here. “I was so nervous before the race but my coach and my roommate helped me calm down, I’m now so excited for the rest of my races.”
“I don’t think that it’s quite sunk in yet that I’ve got a medal. You can’t see under my mask, but I am smiling! I went into the race hoping for a PB, and that’s what I did, so I’m happy.”
Wheelchair Basketball
The Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team started their Paralympic campaign as World silver medallists but faced a difficult opening match against a strong Canadian side.
Scots Robyn Love and Jude Hamer were members of the ParalympicsGB squad who made a strong start to lead 29-26 at half-time. However, the Canadians staged a strong comeback in the second half, including a run of 16 straight points during the third quarter, to win this Group A opener by 73-54 at the Musashino Sport Plaza in Tokyo.
A disappointing start to the competition for the ParalympicsGB side and attention now quickly turns to their next group game against hosts Japan tomorrow.
Cycling
Scotland’s Neil Fachie MBE and Lewis Stewart were also in action on the track at the Izu Velodrome today competing in the Men’s B 4000m Individual Pursuit. Neil along with pilot Matthew Rotherham set a time of 4:42.630 to finish the competition in 11th place, while Lewis piloted James Ball but unfortunately, the pair did not finish the race.
At the end of day one, the Scottish medal counts sits at one bronze thanks to that fantastic personal best swim by Aberdeen’s Toni Shaw.
Photo – courtesy of imagecomms