Scottish track stars and long jumper added to Great Britain’s Rio team
Libby Clegg, Stef Reid, Derek Rae and Sammi Kinghorn have been added to the British athletics squad for September’s Paralympic Games in Rio.
The four will join previouslyselected Scots Maria Lyle and Jo Butterfield in a 54-strong team which includes 13 gold or silver medallists from last summer’s IPC world championships in Doha.
Kinghorn, pictured right, was a certain pick after setting five European records in three weeks earlier this year while Rae booked his spot with 12th place at the London Marathon.
Team chiefs will trust Reid, who took F44 long jump silver four years ago, will bounce back from recent injury woes, with two-time silver medallist Clegg, who missed most of last season with her own injuries, confirming her return to form with a world record in the T11 200m in London last weekend in tandem with new guide runner Chris Clarke. “I’m delighted to be selected for my third Paralympic Games,” the visually-impaired sprinter said. “It’s been a whirlwind of a journey since London after a number of injuries but it’s great to come through the other side and be a part of a really strong Paralympicsgb team heading out to Rio.
“Having changed classification recently, Saturday’s performance in London was beyond our wildest expectations. “However, we are now focused to getting amongst the medals and we can’t wait to get going.” Butterfield will be among the strongest favourites for gold following world records in the club and discus – and a victorious outing at last Saturday’s IPC Grand Prix in London.
“There was good competition which was important,” she said. “I threw last and to have to come up then and beat someone who was ahead of me was a good test. There was a bit of pressure but I built on that. But I’m happy with how I am right now, even though I’ve still some training to do before Rio.”
Defending Paralympic champions Jonnie Peacock, Hannah Cockroft, David Weir and Richard Whitehead are also in the line-up.
Team leader and British Athletics’ Paralympic head coach Paula Dunn said: “I’m so proud of all the athletes selected today, and of the incredibly strong team of track and field athletes that we are taking to compete in Rio in just a few weeks’ time.
“There is some incredible talent here and the athletes have put everything into their training to ensure we are a world-class team. We will be a force to be reckoned with once competition begins.”
The announcement takes the number of selected athletes to 256 from 19 sports.