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There have been many fascinating aspects of the London Paralympic Games. One aspect that has caught media attention and certainly mine, is the equipment, tools and technologies used by many Paralympians.
My fascination is in how the slightest increase in the length of a blade can change the way an athlete performs; how wheelchairs vary as they are tailored to different sports and needs, and [Read more...]
When I suggest to Adam Gemili that he and fellow teenager Jonnie Peacock are on similar career paths, Gemili, a little embarrassed, points out that while he failed to reach the 100m final at the Olympics, blade-runner Peacock won gold at the Paralympics. This was, as teenagers are wont to say nowadays, my bad. [Read more...]
A crowd estimated at over a million lined the streets as the 300-strong ParalympicsGB team joined over 500 of their Olympic counterparts to parade through the centre of London today (Monday) at the end of what Prime Minister David Cameron called “a golden summer of sport”. [Read more...]
Mark Colbourne smashed the world record and guaranteed at least a second silver medal of the London 2012 Paralympics, qualifying for the C1 3km Pursuit final at the Velodrome on Friday.
Londoner Shaun McKeown also secured a track medal and will compete in the final of the C3 event in the afternoon session, while defending champion Darren Kenny competes for bronze.
Welshman Colbourne, who won 1km Time Trial silver on Thursday, became the first athlete in his category – for riders with the most serious disabilities – to break the four-minute mark and he did it emphatically with a time of three minutes 53.970 seconds.
He also improved by seven seconds on the time he set to win February’s World Championships, catching world bronze medallist Rodrigo Lopez in the process, to the delight of the crowd. But he was unsurprised with the achievement, saying:
“The schedule we had was just under four minutes and I think the crowd certainly helped me on.
“Yesterday I was very proud to be the first medallist for ParalympicsGB. However, this event is certainly more my bag really, so I’m looking forward to the final later on.”
At 15:28 this afternoon, Colbourne will race Li Zhang Yu, the Chinese rider who beat him in Thursday’s 1km final, and whose own world record stood for just 10 minutes in qualifying.
McKeown, 22, will face American Joseph Berenyi, who broke Kenny’s previous world record in qualifying fastest in the C3 event. They race for gold at 16:22 this afternoon. Kenny himself was fourth fastest and faces world champion David Nicholas of Australia in the race for third overall.
More info at www.paralympics.org.uk/gb
Britain lie third in the medal table at the end of day one of the London 2012 Paralympic Games after winning seven medals from four sports, two less than Australia who are second behind table-toppers China.
Headlines
Super Storey wins first for Britain: Sarah Storey clinched Britain’s first gold of the Games, just hours after she had smashed the world record in qualifying for the C5 Individual Pursuit final and minutes after Mark Colbourne claimed Britain’s first medal – a silver – in the Velodrome.
Fox flies to gold and world record: Three ParalympicsGB swimmers washed up with medals on the first evening’s action at the Aquatics Centre where the plaudits belonged to gold medallist and world record breaker Jonathan Fox.
Quilter bags battling bronze: Judoka Ben Quilter bounced back from quarter-final defeat to take bronze on the mat at the ExCeL.
Newson takes bronze with PB lift: Zoe Newson lifted a personal best 88kg to capture Powerlifting bronze in the Under 40kg class.
ParalympicsGB medals today: Gold: 2. Silver: 3. Bronze: 2.
ParalympicsGB medals tally: Gold: 2. Silver: 3. Bronze: 2.
Sport by sport round-up:
Archery: Kenny Allen crowned his first appearance at a Paralympics with a Games record to top the men’s Recurve Standing rankings and make him one of the medal favourites. Danielle Brown placed first in the women’s Compound competition, matching her Paralympic record from Beijing.
Cycling: Storey stormed to victory in the Velodrome, riding a wave of noise to overtake her opponent well before she’d pedalled the full 3km of her Pursuit final. Colbourne had raised the roof himself when he struck silver in the men’s C1-2-3 1km Time Trial leaving team-mate Darren Kenny in fourth.
Equestrian: Lee Pearson and Natasha Baker won their events on the opening day of the Team test at Greenwich Park. Despite making an error, Pearson overcame the rain to score 74.682% while Baker scored 76.095%, her highest in international events.
Goalball: Niall Graham scored Britain’s first ever Paralympic goal but it was a tough opening match for GB’s men who lost 11-1 to world champions Lithuania. It was a similar story for the GB women who lost 7-1 to defending champions China in their first group game.
Judo: Quilter won bronze in the Under-60kg class, overcoming a left knee injury and quarter-final defeat to beat Japan’s Takaaki Hirai in just over a minute in the bronze medal match.
Powerlifting: Newson, the youngest member of GB’s squad, celebrated her Paralympic Games debut by equaling her personal best to take bronze in the Under 40kg class.
Shooting: Di Coates’ hopes of a sixth Paralympic medal slipped by in her last series of qualifying shots and she missed the Air Rifle final by two points. Adrian Bunclark missed out on a place in his Air Pistol final on his first taste of Paralympic Games action.
Sitting Volleyball: Britain’s men fought hard against Beijing bronze medallists Russia but went down in three sets.
Swimming: Fox broke the S7 Backstroke world record in his morning heat and led the final from start to finish to take Britain’s second gold of the Games. Nyree Kindred struck silver in the S6 100m Backstroke, her 10th Paralympic medal, and 16 year old Hannah Russell smashed her British S12 400m Freestyle record to place second in that event.
Table Tennis: Medal-favourite Will Bayley was one of four Britons to win Singles matches but Aaron McKibbin will not go through after losing two games on day one.
Wheelchair Basketball: A stirring fightback from Britain’s men was eventually thwarted by Germany who led by 17 points in the first half but needed extra-time to win 77-72. It was a more difficult day for the women who lost 60-35 to a strong Netherlands side.
Read more about ParalympicsGB performances at London 2012 at www.paralympics.org.uk/gb
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