History beckons for Pascoe
Swimmer Sophie Pascoe is on track to become New Zealand’s most successful Paralympian of all time at the Rio Games.
And given the way she obliterated the field in the women’s 200m individual medley SM10, few would bet against the 23-year-old sensation.
Pascoe won the event for the third straight time yesterday, breaking her own world record in the process with a blistering time of 2:24:90.
Pascoe was so dominant that she was practically racing against herself, with Canadian Aurelie Rivard more than six seconds adrift in second and Hungary’s Bianka Pap third.
‘‘To be good at all four strokes and to put it all together in one race is challenging,’’ Pascoe said after winning her third medal in three days.
‘‘I set the benchmark pretty high four years ago setting the world record with a 2:25 and to finally turn around tonight and see a 2:24 I am just absolutely stoked.’’
Just as she did in Beijing in 2008 and London four years ago, Pascoe has emerged as the story of the Games for New Zealand.
Monday’s triumph was the Christchurch star’s second gold in Rio and eighth overall, lifting her total medal tally 13 – one shy of the late Eve Rimmer, who claimed 14 medals in athletics between 1968 and 1980.
Pascoe has two events remaining in Brazil – the 100m butterfly on Tuesday and the 100m freestyle on Wednesday.
She is ranked number one in the world in both disciplines, making the prospect of creating yet more history a distinct possibility.
Four days into the Games, New Zealand are halfway to achieving their goal of 18 medals after cyclist Emma Foy and tandem pilot Laura Thompson joined Pascoe in finishing on the podium on Monday.
New Zealand are 11th on the medal table with four gold, three silver and two bronze.
Foy and Thompson finished second in the women’s B 3000m individual pursuit with a time of 3:31.569, three seconds behind the British tandem of Lora Turnham and pilot Corrine Hall.
Foy was proud of their achievement but has set her sights on even better results on the road.
‘‘It felt rough out there and it was hard and it did not come together how we would have liked it to,’’ she said.
‘‘Our qualification round this morning was great and we did a time we were really happy with. We have two more events coming up, both on the road and we are now going to focus on these and continue to give it our all.’’
Despite only riding together for six months, fellow Kiwis Amanda Cameron and pilot Hannah van Kampen finished fourth, slashing seven seconds off their personal best during qualifying.
There was another fourth-place finish at the Olympic Stadium as long jump gold medallist Anna Grimaldi missed out on adding a bronze to her collection by a mere tenth of a second in the women’s 100m T47 final.
However, there is the prospect of more success on the track on Tuesday after Liam Malone established himself as the man to beat in the men’s 200m T44 final.
Fresh from his stunning silver medal in the 100m T44 on Saturday, Malone set the fastest qualifying time on the way to a personal best of 21.33sec.
The Nelson runner laughed as he crossed the finish line, suggesting he has plenty left in the tank.
‘‘I am really happy as I managed to get some more sleep last night and I really just wanted to have some fun out there tonight,’’ Malone said.
‘‘I am really looking forward to tomorrow and putting in a huge effort, I want to win.’’
Paralympic debutant Jacob Phillips will also contest the men’s 200m T35 final after qualifying seventh fastest with a personal best time of 28.78.