Alison’s Rio joy
West Lothian Triathlon Club member Alison Patrick (left) clinched a silver medal in her Paralympics Games debut as she came home in second place in the PT5 Para-triathlon event on Sunday.
West Lothian Triathlon Club member Alison Patrick collapsed with exhaustion after clinching the PT5 Paratriathlon silver medal in the gruelling heat on Sunday.
The 28-year-old from Dunfermline and her guide Hazel Smith, finished in a time of 1:13.20 at Fort Copacabana to come home in second place behind Katie Kelly of Australia and her guide Michellie Jones.
Fellow Brit Melissa Reid, and guide Nicole Walters grabbed a podium spot with a third place finish in 1:14.07.
Alison, who is visually impaired and has less than 10 per cent sight, went into her Paralympics debut in fine form, having been crowned International Triathlon Union Paratriathlon World Champion in Rotterdam a few weeks before Rio.
Alison admitted the Brazil heat played a part in her having to settle for second place in the race, which saw her complete a 750m swim before tackling a 20km cycle and 5km run on the iconic Copacabana Beach.
Proving she’d given everything she could in the race, Alison collapsed due to exhaustion after crossing the finish line, but made a quick recovery.
She said: “We hadn’t seen the Australians race all season so we didn’t know where they were at, but they were very strong.
“We felt the heat massively today on the run, which is normally my strength and where I’d usually make up any time that I’d lost on anyone but it was just so tough.”
As for the celebrations, she added: “It’s going to be amazing just to let our hair down, we haven’t done that in such a long time.”
Team GB had a huge successful Games in the Para-triathlon as they claimed one gold, two silver and one bronze medal. It was the first time the event had been in the Paralympics.