Clegg chases double
Still shellshocked after winning 100m gold, Scot is now in pursuit of 200m glory, reports Mark Woods
LIBBY Clegg emerged from the ultimate Paralympic rollercoaster ride in the early hours of yesterday morning with her head still spinning from the twists and turns that eventually propelled her towards a first British gold on the track of these Games.
The 26-year-old lowered the world record to 11.91 seconds in the semis on Thursday, only to be disqualified after the judges ruled she had been dragged towards the line by guide runner Chris Clarke. An appeal led to a reinstatement and then a charge to victory in the T11 100 metres that led no room for confusion.
Now she will chase a double in the 200m, an event in which she landed a world record in London just seven weeks ago. A little less drama would be preferred.
“I am a bit shell-shocked. I’m sure it will hit me in a few days what I have achieved, although maybe it can wait until after the 200m though,” she said. “It has been an incredible experience and the crowd has been absolutely amazing, and it is great to be a part of these Games. I’m really excited for the 200m now. We had a great run at the IPC Grand Final in London so hopefully we can replicate it again.”
Sammi Kinghorn will chase a podium place in tonight’s T53 400m final after coming fourth in her heat.
“After seeing the times that the girls have done, I know I can do it,” the Borderer said. “I just have to rest up and hopefully do it.”
Sabina Fortune landed bronze in the F20 shot put with a huge personal best of 12.94m.
“I was focusing on what I did out there and I’m very proud of it,” the 19-year-old said. “Going into the competition, I thought I had a chance of winning a medal but I wanted a PB before I did anything else.”
Sam Ingram’s bid for a third Paralympic medal in three Games fell apart in the bronze medal bout as the Scot lost out to the USA’s Dartanyon Crockett.
The veteran’s bid to add gold to the silver and bronze already in his locker was blown apart in the quarter-finals when he was held down in the final minute by Cuba’s Jorge Hierrezuelo. But Crockett pulled out two yukos over Ingram to leave him out of luck down in fifth place.
Micky Yule was also out of the medals in the -65kgs powerlifting final with the former Royal Engineers Sargent lifting 180kgs to come sixth with Paul Kehinde landing gold with a best effort of 218.
“I really want to concentrate on the 2018 Commonwealth Games,” Yule said. “I didn’t do what I wanted in Glasgow when I came fourth so that’s going to be something I really go for.”
Elsewhere, a strong third quarter performance by GB’s women’s basketball team helped them land a 50-45 win over reigning champions Germany. But the men’s football team are out after losing 2-1 to Ukraine.
David Phillipson insists he and partner Marc McCarroll have nothing to fear ahead of their second round wheelchair tennis men’s doubles match following a 6-4, 7-6 win over Chinese pair Shunjiang Dong and Zujun Wei.
The British pair face France’s Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, the top seeds and red-hot favourites for gold.
Andy Mullen missed out on a second Paralympic medal by the tiniest of margins as the Scottish swimmer was surprisingly dropped into fourth in the 50m butterfly S5 final.
Hannah Cockrcoft retained her T34 100m title in 17.42 seconds with the wheelchair racer leaving the field behind, with 15-year-old British team-mate Kare Adenegan heading the charge to land silver. NEIL Fachie admits there will be a fear of failure spurring him on when he enters the cycling velodrome for today’s 1000m time trial with tandem partner Pete Mitchell.
The 33-year-old Aberdonian claimed the kilo title at London 2012 as well as sprint silver and with the latter having been omitted from the programme, the former has consumed his attentions.
And with the weight of favouritism on the side of the British pair, Fachie will carry a burden of expectation that he trusts will not weigh him down.
“We have been unbeaten since Pete came on board and since London, we’ve been undefeated for the whole cycle,” he said.
“I don’t like losing anyway. But having not lost for so long, it would cut pretty deep if we missed out on the big one. I definitely want to defend that title.
“I’ve got target times in my head of things I want to achieve as well. With the sprint being removed from the Games, this race is a big deal.”
Similarly, Alison Patrick has challenged her rivals to knock her off her perch in today’s women’s paratriathlon following her own stretch of dominance.
The partially-sighted Fifer and fellow Scot Hazel Smith have dominated the PT5 class for the past two years and that, the 20-year-old confirms, is a position of strength she plans to exploit after team-mate Andy Lewis took the men’s PT2 title yesterday.
“In my head, I feel like there’s only one girl in the world who can beat me I’m on form,” she said. But I really feel like that, unless something goes wrong with the bike, none of the other girls could beat me.
“I hope that doesn’t sound cocky. Even if I don’t get my best race, I should win a medal.
“But it’s there for me to win unless someone out-perform themselves or something goes wrong.”
Jo Butterfield will back herself to add Paralympic F51 club throw gold to the world title she took last year.
“If I do my best, I’ll win,” the 37-yearold Glaswegian said.
“That’s a good position to be in. Noone else can say that.” if Mark Woods