Remember when we thought teh Paralympics in Rio would be a disaster? Turns out they’ve gone pretty well, as our man in Brazil reports:
Britain have missed out on a medal in the pool, they finished fourth in the men’s 4x100m 34 points. Ukraine got gold but the biggest cheer was for Brazil who came in second.
In the North American grudge match, Canada - still sore at the US for appropriating Seth Rogan, Michael J Fox, Dan Akroyd and Pamela Anderson - suffered another loss, going down 2-0 to the USA in the women’s goalball quarter-final.
Who wants a world record? We’ve got one from Ukraine’s Anna Stetsenko, who recorded a time of 27.34 seconds in the S13 50m free. Is it worth saying she won the gold with that. The answer, I would say, is no. USA’s Rebecca Meyers leaves disappointed - she was going for her fourth gold but faded badly to finish in sixth.
And on that note, I’m passing over to Tom Lutz for the rest of the evening’s action.
Marlou van Rhijn of the Netherlands, who is (uncomfortably) referred to as the “blade babe”*, wins the second heat of the 400 comfortably. And Sugar has ensured her progress to tomorrow’s final, too, as a fastest loser.
*She says she likes the name
Irmgard Bensusan of Germany sets a Paralympic record in the first heat, with Sugar back in fourth.
There was no gold for Andy Lapthorne in the tennis final. He will settle for silver after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Dylan Alcott.
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Back on the track, the women’s T44 200m is getting underway. GB’s Laura Sugar is the one to watch in lane one.
After an evening of amazing continued success for GB, Richard Chiassaro has only finished fifth in his T54 800m heat, meaning he will not join Weir in the final.
Sorry not sorry for telling you how the basketball finished if you’ve been watching Channel 4 along with reading this blog …
Great Britain have beaten Australia in the quarter-finals of the wheelchair basketball thanks to a remarkable second half. The Australians were 31-29 up at half time but Britain dominated the third and fourth quarters to eventually win 74-51.
After an inauspicious Games to date, some good news for David Weir. He has finished first in the heats of the T54 800m with a time 1min 37.3sec.
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For readers in Australia, a story of a teenage star in the making winning her first medal.
Hannah Russell wins gold in a WR time in the S12 backstroke final
She was always likely to take gold but a swim of 1min 6.06sec is absolutely sensational. Russell has truly obliterated the rest of the competitors. The outcome was never in doubt, using the starting blocks brilliantly to give her an immediate lead.
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Stephen Clegg has swum a lifetime’s best in the S12 100m backstroke final to finish fifth. He has also had a minor shoulder injury coming into this event.
Australia’s Dylan Alcott has won the first set of the quads tennis final against GB’s Andy Lapthorne 6-3.
Bethany Firth has won silver in the SB14 100m breaststroke final with a PB, behind Spain’s Michelle Alonso Maorales, who scores a new Paralympic record of 1min 12.62sec. The world record, though, is 1min 12.61sec. How close!
Gold and silver for GB (again) in the SB14 100m breaststroke final
It feels like every update is to signal another medal for GB. Aaron Moores pips Scott Quin by 0.03sec to gold in a remarkable finish. They were both well ahead of the rest.
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This is getting silly … Susannah Rodgers has won bronze in the women’s S7 400m freestyle final, her third medal of the Games. McKenzie Coan of the US took gold.
Back at the track, Isaac Towers has had to settle for sixth in the men’s 800m - T33/34 final.
Gold and silver for GB in the men’s S7 400m freestyle final
The gold column is now on 41! Michael Jones wins gold and Jon Fox takes silver and they several seconds clear of the rest.
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And at the same time Claire Cashmore has taken silver in the pool, beaten by Canada’s Katarina Roxen.
Gold for Cockroft … and a new WR
It was a question of by how much rather than if Cockroft would win following a blistering start and she ends up crossing the line in 58.78 (unconfirmed). Andenegan takes bronze with a PB after setting a blistering pace early on only to be overtaken by the 16-year-old Alexa Halko, setting a national record, coming down the home straight.
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Cockroft is on the track, along with the 15-year-old Kare Adenegan but not Nicholls. Adenegan is the last athlete to beat Cockroft but surely not tonight … we will find out in about a minute.
Mel Nicholls has withdrawn from the T34 400m due to illness but hopes to be fit for the 800m a couple of days from now.
Things are about to become a little busier now … Claire Cashmore takes part in the SB8 100m breaststroke final in a little under 10 minutes, while Jon Fox, Mikey Jones and Susannah Rodgers are also competing for medals in the next half an hour.
Meanwhile, Michael Barker has put Britain 2-0 ahead against Argentina in the battle for fifth in the seven-a-side. There are about 12 minutes remaining.
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Our primary attention will soon turn to the stadium where Hannah Cockroft and David Weir are among those in action over the next couple of hours. First up will be Vanessa Daobry in the F34 shot put final and Joanna Butterfield in the discus throw F52 final, though. Both get underway about 10-15 minutes from now.
And Rahman has now lifted 310kg! Sensational.
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Rahman has lifted 305 and will try 310! The 2012 champion has not only retained his title but lifted a new record, which is almost double his weight or …
GB are winning their fifth-sixth play-off in the men’s football 1-0 approaching half-time, Matt Crossen’s 20th minute goal putting them in front of Argentina.
And to add further context to that world record, the next best is Egypt’s Jamil Elshebli, way back on 231kg. It’s almost like a different competition out there.
World record alert! In the men’s 107kg+ powerlifting, Siamand Rahman of Iran has set a new world record of 300kg on his second lift. And he will try to better it by adding another 10kg. Yikes!
Record breakers
Great Britain’s Paralympians have bettered their tally of 34 gold medals from London 2012 after Dame Sarah Storey won the C5 road time trial to clinch the team’s 35th gold on day seven of the Games, writes Jacob Steinberg in Rio de Janeiro.
Storey’s win set up a gold rush in Rio. In one 15-minute burst on Wednesday afternoon, ParalympicsGB won their 36th, 37th and 38th gold as Kadeena Cox ran home to claim the women’s T38 women’s 400m final minutes before her Paralympic Village flatmate Karen Darke won the handcycling time trial. Sophie Wells then won the dressage grade four individual championship test to complete a memorable afternoon.
During the cycling events, Pearson finished with silver in the equestrian. Yet another medal for the 42-year-old from Staffordshire to add that impressive collection.
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It’s fifth for Dines, with gold going to Australia’s Carol Cooke, in a time of 26min 11.40sec.
And next up, right away, is the women’s event. Britain’s Hannah Dines is second to Germany’s Jana Majunke at the moment and there are four more to finish.
It’s bronze for Stone in the T1-2, with gold going to Peter Hans-Durst of Germany and the USA’s Ryan Boyle winning silver.
David Stone is a big favourite in the men’s T1-2 time trial and has posted an outstanding times of 24min 42.25sec, providing himself with a cushion of more than 2min 20sec, though there are 10 more cyclists to go.
And more guaranteed medals for Britain on the tennis court, too.
He's into the final!!!! @alfiehewett6 wins 7-5, 6-3 and joins his doubles partner @GordonReid91 in an all 🇬🇧 singles final. #Supercharge
— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 14, 2016
Medal news! The Women’s Time Trial B has just finished, where Katie-George Dunlevy of Ireland has posted the fastest time of 38min 59.22sec. Yurie Kanuma of Japan was more than 30sec behind in second, with bronze for GB’s Lora Turnham.
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In the Individual Championship Test - Grade Ib, the British flagbearer last Wednesday, Lee Pearson, sits second with a score of 74.103 after one round, 1.0 behind Pepo Puch of Austria.
How does the medal table look at the moment?
Hello. So Great Britain have already beaten their London 2012 gold medal haul, Dame Sarah Storey making it a record 35 before they soon reached 38. By the close of play this evening, how many will GB have? 45?! We’ll see … Elsewhere China are runaway leaders, heading towards 70 golds, while Ukraine are third and USA sit fourth. Brazil sit fifth, already ensuring a successful Games for the hosts, with Australia close behind.
What’s on tonight, then? Among the highlights: GB’s Andy Lapthorne, who enjoyed glory last night in the doubles, takes on Dylan Alcott of Australia in the wheelchair tennis men’s quad singles gold medal match at around 4.30pm local time (8.30pm GMT), Hannah Cockroft, Kare Adenegan & Mel Nicholls go in the women’s T34 400m final a little more than an hour after that and David Weir and Richard Chiassaro compete in men’s T54 800m heats a little later. In total there will have been 59 golds dished out by the time the action concludes.
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That's two Johnny Vegases!