THE GOLDEN GAMES
ANOTHER DAY OF GLORY FOR BRITAIN’S PARALYMPICS TEAM AS THEY TIGHTEN THEIR HOLD IN THE MEDALS TABLE
MAGIC Monday at the Tokyo Paralympics witnessed another three golds for British athletes as they tightened their grip on second place in the medals table.
Wheelchair racer Andrew Small got off to a flying start in the T33 100m final to snatch victory by one tenth of a second.
The 28-year-old, from Cheshire, had been given a five per cent chance of survival when he was born weighing 1lb 6oz.
But yesterday his family celebrated as he stormed home in 17.73 seconds. ‘It has been worth all the many training sessions in the garage over Zoom,’ said Small. ‘I normally have a Garfield brought to me with “I hate Mondays”, so I may have to change that now!’
Phoebe Paterson Pine struggled to know how well she was doing as she won the archery gold by a single point in her debut Games.
‘I’m bad at maths so
I had no idea what I needed,’ said the 23-yearold, who has spina bifida. ‘I saw I shot an eight and was like, “Oh my goodness, I shot an eight. That’s horrible”.
‘Then I realised I needed that to win and thought, “Maybe that’s not too bad”. I almost feel I’m living in a dream and it won’t settle until I’m with family or looking at the aftermath on my phone.’
Medal hope Jonnie Peacock (pictured), 28, missed adding to his golds from the last two Paralympics as he took a bronze in a four-man photo-finish in the final of the T64 100m. ‘I’ve got to be grateful, when I was 15 I would have loved to make a final,’ the amputee said.
‘To all the kids at home – do what you want to do, don’t let anything hold you back! Sorry I couldn’t win for you. I’ll win for you next time.’
Veteran Paralympian Sir Lee Pearson rounded off Britain’s day of triumph with the 14th gold of his career in the equestrian grade II individual freestyle. ‘I am very, very emotional, I cried in the arena,’ said Sir Lee, 47, who was on new horse Breezer. ‘It has been a long journey, he is a home-bred horse and I am a dad now – I have never had to keep anyone else alive apart from myself.’ Great Britain had 26 gold medals going into last night’s competitions – above the Russia Paralympic Committee and the US, and second only to China.
JONNIE PEACOCK was denied a glorious hat-trick of Paralympics 100metres titles yesterday but got the consolation of sharing bronze after an agonising wait for the outcome of a photo-finish.
British single-leg amputee Peacock powered over the line in a season’s best 10.79 seconds and could not be separated from Germany’s Johannes Floors.
Floors’ compatriot Felix Strang claimed
T64 gold in 10.76 secs, with Sherman Isidro Guity Guity of Costa Rica just a fraction of a second behind in second.
Peacock, 28, who won gold in the T44 class in London and Rio, was back in the team for the first time since he won gold at the 2017 world championships and his subsequent appearance on Strictly Come Dancing later that year.
A serious knee injury in 2019 and hamstring trouble ahead of travelling to Japan had led to Peacock talking down his chances of another gold in the build-up to yesterday’s race.
‘One side of me is super happy that I was able to turn my season around and be competitive in that race,’ he said.
‘The other side of me, after I’d watched it back, was really annoyed. I was in a really good position at 60 metres.
‘If you had asked me before the race for that, I would have said “no way I am taking that gold”.
‘I have to give it to Felix, he was the best racer today. Guity Guity, wow, what a breakthrough to come into your first Paralympics and take a silver in one of the most competitive events in the sport. I’ve come back from a few injuries this year. All I can say is I’m really looking forward to next year, and Paris (the 2024 Paralympics) is only three years away.’
Earlier, British wheelchair racer Andrew Small grabbed gold after blitzing his rivals in the men’s T33 100m final.
The 28-year-old’s blistering start proved crucial as defending champion Ahmad Almutairi of Kuwait threatened to snatch victory by closing the sizeable gap, only to cross the line a tenth of a second behind.
Small’s success was an upgrade on the bronze he won behind Almutairi in Rio, with third place on the podium on this occasion going to his team-mate Harri Jenkins in a season’s best time.
‘To watch London 2012, be inspired by David Weir and Hannah Cockroft, and then be in Rio four years later was a little bit strange,’ Small said,
‘It’s the same with this, especially considering these Games weren’t supposed to happen. I have got to pinch myself sometimes.’