Silver and gold glow in Rio pool
New Zealand’s para-swimmers had another glorious day in the pool as Nikita Howarth won gold and Sophie Pascoe claimed silver at the Rio Paralympics yesterday.
Flagbearer Holly Robinson won silver with a personal best in the women’s javelin F46, which was beaten only by a world record throw from Britain’s Hollie Arnold, as New Zealand moved to within two medals of their preGames target of 18.
Howarth’s medal means New Zealand have eight golds, five silver and three bronze medals.
The 17-year-old Cambridge para-swimmer claimed her second medal in two days by winning the women’s 200m individual medley SM7 by more than five seconds.
Howarth finished with a time of 2min 57.29sec after qualifying fastest for the final. Canada’s Tess Routcliffe and America’s Cortney Jordan took out silver and bronze respectively.
Howarth won bronze in the women’s 50m butterfly S7 on Tuesday and will race for another medal in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB8 today.
Pascoe won her fifth medal in Rio with a silver medal in her last event of the Games, which now means her Paralympics medal tally of 15 is more than any Kiwi has ever won.
The 23-year-old from Christchurch finished second in the 100m freestyle S10 behind Canada’s Aurelie Rivard, who won gold with a personal best time of 59.31sec.
‘‘Aurelie was the better person on the day,’’ Pascoe said.
‘‘I gave it everything, I’ve left everything out in that last race and that’s all I can give.
‘‘To be able to back up race after race in five days, which equals 10 races, is pretty challenging in itself.
‘‘To be honest, I am happy with how its ended. It may not be the gold but it’s been a tough week and it’s been an amazing week also.’’
Pascoe clocked 59.85sec while France’s Elodie Lorandi claimed bronze.
New Zealand’s greatest ever Paralympian now has nine gold and six silver medals to her name since her debut in the Beijing Games in 2008.
Robinson won New Zealand’s first medal of the day, as she threw a personal best to claim silver in the women’s javelin F46.
She threw 41.22m with her fifth attempt in hot conditions, which was beaten only by a world record throw of 43.01m from British paraathlete Arnold.
The 21-year-old from Hokitika was world number No 1 in the event after starring on the international stage since competing at the Paralympics in London four years ago, where she finished seventh.
She’s won bronze and silver medals in the last two athletics world championships, in 2013 and 2015, and Robinson said she was ‘‘super stoked’’ to win silver in the Paralympics, despite coming so close to winning gold in Rio’s blistering heat. Poland’s Katarzyna Piekart claimed the bronze medal.
‘‘I’m so happy with today. I went out and did what I wanted to do, and that was a personal best,’’ she said.
‘‘I did that and it was amazing out there. The crowd was awesome. It was an awesome atmosphere.
‘‘I’m just super stoked and it’s been an amazing experience walking into the stadium from the opening ceremony.
‘‘It’s been a pretty cool experience.’’
Paralympics debutant Hamish McLean missed out on a podium finish after finishing seventh in the final of the men’s 400m freestyle S6 final.
Reigning world champion, Italy’s Francesco Bocciardo, won gold with a time of 5min 2.15sec.
Wanaka para-swimmer McLean, who’s 16, clocked a time of 5:30.63 after qualifying sixth fastest for the final.
New Zealand’s youngest Paralympian in Rio, 15-year-old Tupou Neiufi, finished fifth in her heat and couldn’t make the final of the women’s 50m freestyle S9.
Para-shooters Michael Johnson and Jason Eales both missed out on qualifying for the final of the R5 mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2.
Former Paralympic champion and two-time bronze medallist Johnson spent most of the qualifying rounds in the top three, before one poor round sent him to the back of the field. Paralympic debutant Eales finished 17th and didn’t make the final.
The Sonar para-sailing crew of Rick Dodson, Chris Sharp and Andrew May have dropped from second to fourth overall, after only one of the two scheduled races took place due to a lack of wind in scorching conditions on the water, with temperatures as high as 38degC.
Australia retained their lead after finishing fifth, as New Zealand’s team, who finished sixth, fell behind Canada and Greece.