Six golds on day six for ParalympicsGB
On a day when the temperature soared in Rio, ParalympicsGB did not wilt in the heat and won six gold medals to draw level with the tally of 34 from London 2012.
There were second golds on the track for Libby Clegg and Georgina Hermitage as they won the T11 200m and T37 400m titles, respectively, with Hollie Arnold also taking gold in the F46 javelin.
Libby Clegg (coach: Joe McDonnell) and guide Chris Clarke took the T11 200m title in dominant fashion. They composed themselves after home favourite Terezhina Guilhermina was disqualified for a false start. This didn’t disrupt the rhythm of the British duo as blasted out of the blocks and led as they hit the home straight. The Chinese pairs applied pressure to the duo early on but Clegg and Clarke looked serene over the final 100m as they captured their second title of the week, in a Paralympic record of 24.51 (+0.1), just 0.07 seconds outside their world record.
Clegg commented post-medal ceremony:
“It is a dream come true; I am absolutely over the moon. The 200m is actually my better event and I love it so I’m so happy that we took the gold in this one. 2017 will be exciting – we definitely know we can go faster. I obviously didn’t get a PB today so that is something we will be working on. Same in the 100m; I had a shocker of a start so we can go even faster in that one as well. Competing in front of a home crowd again will be great and I will thrive off that.”
Clarke who has overcome illness is the last couple of days added:
“I’d call it man flu – I did feel awful. I was going to call yesterday thinking ‘I just want to cry right now.’ But it’s been an absolute adventure to have been involved in and I’m so grateful to Libby for letting me be a part of it.”
Away from the Olympic stadium Stephanie Millward finally won a Paralympic gold, taking the S8 100m backstroke title as Matt Wylie was also successful in the pool, winning S9 50m freestyle gold.
And there were more medals in the pool as Ollie Hynd took S8 100m backstroke silver and Ellie Simmonds won S6 400m freestyle bronze.
The day’s other gold came as Rob Davies won the men’s singles (Class 1) table tennis title, and Piers Gilliver won ParalympicsGB’s first wheelchair fencing medal for 24 years, with silver in the Category A individual epee.
And the day’s remaining medals were both coloured bronze as Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker took women’s doubles wheelchair tennis bronze, while colleagues Andy Lapthorne and Jamie Burdekin matched their achievement in the men’s quad doubles.
Action ahead for day six
Action gets under way in the para-canoeing with the inspirational Jeanette Chippington seeking to make history.
The 46-year old made her Paralympic debut as a swimmer at the 1988 Games in Seoul, winning 12 medals in the pool in five consecutive Games.
She’s not appeared in ParalympicsGB colours in 12 years but since switching sports has won four world titles.
Four-time Paralympian Claire Cashmore will tackle the 100m breaststroke SB8 with a number of other swimmers in action in the pool while Sophie Wells and flag bearer Lee Pearson will be looking for dressage medals at the Olympic Equestrian Centre.
ParalympicsGB start their wheelchair rugby campaign against Australia but all eyes will be on the Ashes showdown in the quarter-final of the men’s wheelchair basketball.
At the Olympic Stadium, Maria Lyle, 16, will take on Australian rival Isis Holt, 15, in a fascinating head-to-head in the women’s 100m T35 final while David Weir is back on the track in the heats of the 800m T54.
And Hannah Cockroft will be hoping to lead a clean sweep on the podium as she lines up alongside Kare Adenegan and Melissa Nicholls in the 400m T34 final.
Elsewhere, archers and shooters will be looking to be on target in the elimination and qualification rounds respectively while better conditions will be hoped for at the sailing regatta, where Helena Lucas, the defending champion in the one-person keelboat, leads her class.
Epee silver medallist Piers Gilliver is back in the action in the individual foil category B alongside team-mate Dimitri Coutya.
And Dame Sarah Storey seeks to defend her road cycling C5 time trial title and claim her 13th career Paralympic gold.
Megan Giglia, who won the C1-2-3 3000m pursuit, also races in her time trial.
Action continues with individual pool matches in the boccia while the women’s class 1-3 table tennis players take on quarter-finalists Italy with the men’s class 1-2 team doing likewise against Brazil.
There is also pride and ranking position at stake for ParalympicGB’s seven-a-side football team, who play Argentina for fifth place.
And it promises to be a massive day for ParalympicsGB at the Olympic Tennis Centre.
Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett - who have made the doubles final together - will be in the semi-finals singles action at the wheelchair tennis, against Stephane Houdet and Joachim Gerard respectively.
And Andy Lapthorne, fresh from winning doubles bronze, takes on top seed, Australia’s Dylan Alcott, in the final of the quad men’s singles.
