All the day seven news and reaction
We’ll be back tomorrow with all the day eight action from Tokyo, with another stuffed programme including fireworks in the Olympic Stadium sandpit as the “Blade Jumper”, Germany’s Markus Rehm, takes to the runway. Thanks for joining us today!
Updated
Medal table after day seven in Tokyo
1 China 62 golds 38 silvers 32 bronzes (132 medals overall)
2 Great Britain 29 golds 23 silvers 28 bronzes (80)
3 RPC 25 golds 16 silvers 33 bronzes (74)
4 United States 24 golds 24 silvers 15 bronzes (63)
5 Ukraine 15 golds 33 silvers 19 bronzes (67)
6 Brazil 14 golds 11 silvers 17 bronzes (42)
7 Netherlands 14 golds 9 silvers 9 bronzes (32)
8 Australia 13 golds 21 silvers 20 bronzes (54)
9 Italy 11 golds 18 silvers 14 bronzes (43)
10 Azerbaijan 10 golds 1 silver 4 bronzes (15)
A much prettier representation can be found on our dedicated page …
In the final events on the track today … China’s Fenfen Jiang took gold in the T37 women’s 400m, winning in a new national record of 1min 1.36sec, just 0.12sec clear of Natalia Kobzar of the Ukraine, who put in a personal best. Sheryl James, representing South Africa, took the bronze in another PB.
Before that came the heats of the T12 men’s 400m – Noah Malone was the fastest qualifier for the US in a new Games and national record of 48.50, with Mahdi Afri of Morocco, Rouay Jebabli of Tunisia and another Moroccan, the world-record holder Abdeslam Hili, also well inside 49 seconds and making it through to Thursday’s final.
Greetings. Stuart here to mop up the rest of the day seven action.
First of all, here’s Paul MacInnes on Columba Blango’s T20 400m bronze medal for ParalympicsGB …
“That was hard,” said Columba Blango. The heat had broken and the rain was coming down on the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, but in only the second international competition of his career the 29-year-old from Peckham Primark had won a bronze medal. “It’s my first Paralympic Games, so I plan to make more Paralympic Games in future,” he said. “I can take this experience with me knowing that I’ve actually done something, so this is major on my part as well.”
Blango’s story is a rich one. He is the son of a former decathlete who competed for Sierra Leone at the Moscow Olympics but went on to become the mayor of Southwark. Suffering blood clots on his brain at birth, Blango could not speak until the age of six. He now competes in the T20 category for athletes with intellectual impairments, but studied for a degree in tourism at Greenwich University. He also works at the fast fashion retailer to support his training and, yes, he can run a mean 400m.
Blango finished in a personal best time of 47.81, two hundredths of a second behind the French winner Charles-Antoine Koukakou, after a storming finish down the straight took him right through the pack. It looked from a distance as if another 10m would have given him victory, but Blango was not so sure. “I don’t know. Anything can happen in the race,” he said. “All I know is I saw the people in front of me – five people, I believe – and I thought: ‘I can still catch them.’”
ParalympicsGB’s Jordanne Whiley is through to the semi-finals of the women’s singles wheelchair tennis. The fourth seed fended off a late comeback from the USA’s Dana Mathewson – who was 4-1 down but pulled back to 5-5 – and emerged a winner in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Whiley broke down in tears at her win, and will look to better the bronze Paralympic medal she won at 2012 and 2016. Her father Keith was also a Paralympian and won bronze in 1984 in New York.
In the semi finals, Whiley will face the Netherlands’ Diede de Groot, the world No 1 who is a fearsome opponent. De Groot has won all four of the last singles majors and two of the last three doubles titles in majors. Gulp!
Updated
Hello everyone. First bit of business to catch you up on is Oksana Masters, who has had the most remarkable story: overcoming birth defects thought to be from the aftermath of Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear accident, issues within Ukrainian orphanages as a child, adoption to the US,
Her victory in the H4-5 hand-cycle time trial means she is one of just 28 athletes to have won gold at both the Winter and Summer Paralympics, having previously won two golds in cross-country skiing at the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang. This is made all the more ridiculous given she had a tumor removed from her femur in late May and dislocated her elbow in 2018. Truly, an amazing human.
For more background, do read our interview with Masters last year.
What happened today? As of 9:30pm Tokyo time...
We had:
- A golden world record for Reece Dunn in the individual medley
- Plenty of bronze and silver for Great Britain and Australia in the pool
- Dylan Alcott was pushed all the way in reaching the quad tennis final
- A busy night on the track, with three women’s 100m category finals.
- Silver medal for Australia’s Carol Cook in the road cycling time trial
- David Smith will play for boccia gold
- As will William Bayley and Paul Karabardak in the team table tennis
And after all of that, I’m off. Michael Butler is your next friend in the internet. If you find yourself out in the rain, hope you can enjoy it.
The rain is tipping down at the athletics stadium, but Lisbelia Marina Vera Andrade does not seem to mind at all. She receives her gold medal for her 100 metres win and looks like she’s on cloud nine.
Competition is mostly over for the evening. There are some men’s 400m T12 heats, and the last big event is the women’s 400m T37 final. Netherlands are smashing Japan in the women’s wheelchair basketball quarterfinal. There are a couple of table tennis quarters going on, and a couple more throws in the men’s F32 shot put.
We never know the story behind every athlete who we see, but this one is extraordinary.
If you’re not up to date on the latest storey added to Dame Sarah’s tower of gold.
1500 metres bronze for Madison de Rozario
The Australian star produces a brilliant finish – she’s back in fourth place and boxed in by the line as they come around the final bend, but she goes the long way around to the outside and burns home to reach the medals. Can’t catch the front two, where Manuela Schaer and Zhou Zouqian were locked together. The Swiss racer had front spot for most of the race, but the Chinese racer has the finishing speed to take her at the close.
Women’s 1500m T54 final is underway, the wheelchair race.
Double medals for India in high jump
High jump: Gold for Sam Grewe of the USA in the men’s T63 leaping. Doesn’t touch his own world record of 1.90, but is happy with 1.88 to win. And India will be rapt with silver and bronze, if the reaction to javelin silver and bronze was anything to by.
Mariyappan Thangavelu jumps 1.86 for silver, Sharad Kumar 1.83 for bronze.
Athletics: In other results, the USA’s Breanna Clark beats her own world record in the women’s 400m T20 race. Her time is 55.18, ahead of Ukraine’s Yuliia Shuliar, and Brazil’s Jardenia Felix Barbosa de Silva.
And more for Ukraine, with gold and silver in the men’s F20 shot put. Maksym Koval also produces a world record, with 17.34 metres ahead of his compatriot Oleksandr Yarovyi. Bronze for Greece, with Efstratios Nikolaidis.
Long jump bronze for Olivia Breen
How about this for a gold medal performance? Hungarian jumper Luca Ekler already held the world record in the women’s T38 category. That was 5.51m. Tonight, she breaks her world record with her first jump, 5.60m. Then breaks it again with her second jump, 5.63m. Doesn’t need to do much more than that, frankly.
The Russian Margarita Goncharova jumps 5.29 for silver, while Great Britain’s Breen jumps 4.91 for bronze.
Updated
Dylan Alcott is through to the gold medal match
Wheelchair tennis: The quad singles defence is on for Alcott. He was tested today, he was questioned today, and he comes through at the last. Puts Vink in a position where the Dutchman has to try a huge lofted return, and it carries past the baseline. They meet at the net and embrace, and it’s extremely emotional - there are tears from Vink, and Alcott has his arms around him, rubbing his head, telling him over and over that he played so well. Vink really did come close to unseating the best that there is, and he feels the hurt of that more than the pride. After spending some time courtside with his head in his towel, he emerges to make a heart sign to his supporters in the stand. Alcott is just rolling around the court in disbelief almost, beaming in all directions.
Wheelchair tennis: Second match point for Alcott.
Wheelchair tennis: ... which Alcott saves, just landing his serve in by a centimetre, then hitting a backhand winner down the line.
Wheelchair tennis: Now Alcott hits into the net and Vink has a break point...
Wheelchair tennis: An incredible rally and Vink saves match point. About 20 shots back and forth, Alcott makes a couple of returns when they looked gone, but eventually the Dutchman brings it to deuce by working Alcott so wide that his backhand hits the umpire’s chair.
Wheelchair tennis: Match point comes up as Alcott controls the point beautifully, working Vink around the court.
Wheelchair tennis: Alcott serving for the match, but Vink wins the first two points to reach 0-30. Hits one wide to give a point back to Alcott, who then produces a great volley that gives Vink little chance. 30-30.
Table tennis: Spicy. William Bayley and Paul Karabardak form the Great Britain team in the men’s Class 6-7 team draw, and they’ve beaten the Australians in their quarterfinal. Trevor Hirth and Jake Ballestrino are out. I think that making a semifinal in table tennis means you get a bronze medal either way, which Bayley could add to his silver from the singles.
Wheelchair tennis: Not exactly a lift, but a couple of unforced errors give Alcott two break points against Vink... and the Dutchman concedes the game! Hits one long, and Alcott has a 5-4 lead and will serve for the match.
Wheelchair tennis: Dylan Alcott is not having an easy day of it! Has to save break point with games level in the third set. And he does, to square the set at 4-4, but he led by a break earlier and let it slip. Needs to lift, the champ.
Gold for Venezuela in a photo finish
Athletics: The third 100m race is the T47, for runners with an upper limb impairment. And it is a sensational dip on the line that takes the race for Lisbelia Marina Vera Andrade. Brittni Mason of the USA holds the world record over this distance, she got a great start, and she led right up to the line. But somehow Vera Andrade got within distance to strike. The result takes a couple of minutes to come through, and the difference is thousandths of a second. Mason is upset, Vera Andrade is whooping and hollering in the pouring rain.
Deja Young takes bronze for the USA.
Gold for Spain in the 100 metres
We have three women’s 100m races in quick succession. The T11 just earlier, now the T13 for less severe visual impairment. Adiaratou Igelsias Forneiro wins it, Lamiya Valiyeva (Azerbaijan) silver, Kym Crosby (USA) bronze.
Updated
Wheelchair tennis: Vink has three break points to get games back level in the third set against Alcott... and converts! This is getting tense.
David Smith into the boccia gold medal match
Boccia: Great Britain has at least a silver guaranteed, after Smith beats Jose de Oliveira of Brazil in the BC1 semifinal.
Athletics: It’s been rain on the running track, and the T11 women’s 100m runners have to do it in the wet. Linda Patricia Perez Lopez wins the gold for Venezuela. She’s the Diesel Williams of the 100 metres.
Liu Cuiqing wins silver for China, Thalita Simplicio de Silva bronze. The other Brazilian runner doesn’t finish: Jerusa Geber dos Santos had her tether to her guide break - this is a vision-impaired race - and couldn’t continue. Really sad.
Wheelchair tennis: Alcott breaks serve early in the third set! Gets big cheers from the Australian athlete contingent as he leads 2-0.
Athletics: A Dutch sandwich (is that a tax evasion technique?) in the women’s 200m T64. Marlene van Gansewinkel gets the gold, Kimberley Alkemade the bronze, either side of Irmgard Bensuan for Germany. Keeping it Teutonic.
Wheelchair basketball: China dust Great Britain’s women 47-33 in the quarterfinals.
Wheelchair tennis: Vink wins the second set in the quad singles. Dylan Alcott is not invincible.
A classic in the mixed 4x100 relay
Swimming: This is the vision-impaired mixed relay, two men and two women per team. Brazil send their two male swimmers first to build a lead. The Russians have their female swimmers second and third. Ukraine have their men second and fourth. They send Anna Stesenko third, their speedster, and Kyrylo Garashchenko last to chase down the leaders.
It nearly works. Brazil has a big lead with three swimmers done, but the Russians starts to reduce it. For Ukraine, Stetsenko puts Garashchenko in a good position through the third leg, and he then eats up a lot more ground during his first lap. During the final lap he’s charging home between Maria Gomes Santiago and Vladimiar Sotnikov. Brazil drop from gold to silver, Garashchenko ramapges, but Gomes Santiago hangs tough and touches before him.
RPC gold, Brazil silver, Ukraine bronze.
Wheelchair tennis: Alcott holds serve, but still trails 4-3 in the second set. Won the first.
Athletics: Gold for Mexico in the men’s 400m T38. Jose Chessani Garcia crosses well clear of Mohamad Farhat Chida (Tunisia) and Zachary Gingras (Canada).
Updated
Wheelchair tennis: Vink has broken serve against Alcott in the second set. He’s up 4-2, and has deuce on Alcott’s serve right now. Interesting.
Third Games gold for New Zealand
Swimming: Sophie Pascoe already holds the world record in the 100m freestyle S9 from a couple of years ago, so it’s not exactly a surprise that she should win, but it’s a big result for New Zealand. She’s ahead of Spain’s Sarai Gascon, and Brazil’s Mariana Ribeiro.
Silver for Australia in the 100m butterfly
Swimming: Bronze in the men’s S10 final, then silver in the women’s. Jasmine Greenwood swims an excellent race to finish just behind Mikaela Jenkins of the USA. Chantalle Zijderveld takes bronze for Netherlands. First medal of the Games for Greenwood and Jenkins, while Zijderveld previously won gold in the 100m breaststroke and two silvers in the 100m and 50m freestyle.
Gold for France in the men's 400m, bronze for Great Britain
Athletics: The track and the pool are operating side by side tonight. Charles-Antoine Kouakou takes the first gold of the Tokyo evening session, the men’s T20 intellectual disability division. He wasn’t in the running turning into the home straight, but threw out huge strides in those last 50 metres to charge past Luis Felipe Rodriguez Bolivar (Venezuela) and Columba Blango (Great Britain) for the gold.
Bronze for Australia in the 100m butterfly
Swimming: The men’s S10 category sees Col Pearce swim in third. No chance of catching Maksym Krypak, as the Ukrainian busts the old world record and sets 54.15. Stefano Raimondi wins silver for Italy.
Table tennis: Australia wins the teams quarterfinal against France in Class 9-10. Ma Lin and Joel Coughlan are through to a semi.
Not so much luck for Great Britain’s team of Ashley Facey Thompson and Joshua Stacey, who go down to China 2-0.
Wheelchair tennis: Alcott has taken the first set against Vink.
Swimming: The women’s 100m freestyle S7 goes to Giulia Terzi, another swimming gold for Italy. Overall Italy has 11 gold, 17 silver and 14 bronze at the games. Silver in this race goes to McKenzie Coan of the States.
Bronze is a dead heat! Ukraine gets one thanks to Yelyzaveta Mereshko, who touches at exactly the same time as Yuyan Jiang from China. They are both S6 athletes, though this race also contains S7 swimmers. Both the gold and silver medallists were S7, and Terzi has set a new Games record for the S7 category, but Mereshko and Yuyan have set a new world record for S6 swimmers.
Quite the podium then. Coan won the 400 metres at these Games, Mereshko already has two gold and a silver. so three gold medallists on the podium here. Terzi already had a gold and two silver, and Yuyan had a gold and a bronze. So, four swimers, three new Games record-holders, and everyone up there is a Tokyo gold medallist in at least one event.
Wheelchair basketball: The Great British women’s team are not having a good comp. They won only once in the four pool matches, made the quarters anyway because of the rather generous qualification scheme where eight out of ten teams make it through, and now they’re down 23-10 to China in the second quarter.
Dylan Alcott continues his title defence
Wheelchair tennis: The Australian champion - Rio 2016, seven Australian Opens, three French, three Wimbledon, two US Open - is up in his semifinal against the Dutchman Niels Vink. Alcott leading on serve 4-3 in the first set.
Updated
Boccia: Great Britain’s Scott McCowan loses his BC3 semifinal to Grigorios Polychronidis from Greece.
Swimming: A Ukraine sandwich in the men’s 50 freestyle S7, with Andrii Trusov gold and Yevhenii Bohodaiki bronze, either side of the Colombian Carlos Serrano Zarate.
Swimming: In the women’s 50m breaststroke SB3, Marta Infante Fernandez comes in first. She took silver in the 50 butterfly, and she’s sitting poolside in streams of tears at winning gold. Natalia Butkova of the RPC gets silver, while Mexico score another medal with Nely Miranda Herrera’s bronze.
Updated
Silver for Australia's Grant Patterson
Swimming: Anulfo Castorena wins gold in the 50m breaststroke, the SB2 category. This bloke first achieved the feat in Sydney 2000. He won again in Athens. Didn’t swim in Beijing. Won silver in London. Came sixth in Rio. Now he’s back again, at the age of 43, to win in Tokyo. Remarkable.
Patterson’s first Games was London, but he’s never won a medal. Now he has. Jesus Hernandez with bronze completes a medal sandwich for Mexico.
Updated
Football: Argentina win 3-0 over Thailand in the men’s group match.
RPC gold, Great Britain silver and bronze
Swimming: In the women’s 200 medley, the SM14 category, Britain sweep the places from second to fourth. Bethany Firth, Louise Fiddes, and Jessica-Jane Applegate take those places, behind Valeriia Shabalina of the RPC. Her third gold of the Games, after the 100 fly and the 200 freestyle.
Updated
World record and gold for Reece Dunn
Swimming: Reece Dunn does it in the 200m individual medley, in 2:08:02. A straightforward swim: hit the front during the butterfly, held the lead through the backstroke, gave away some ground during the breaststroke. All eyes would have been on Gabriel Bandeira coming into the last lap, because the Brazilian has had a brilliant Games and is a powerful freestyle sprinter. But Bandeira was lagging through the breaststroke lap. He turned... I don’t know, fifth or sixth it looked like? But powered through the freestyle lap to end up with silver. Dunn needed a world record to hold him off. Bronze, Vasyl Krainyk for Ukraine.
Updated
Football: Angel Deldo Garcia has added a second goal for Argentina against Thailand in the 5-a-side.
Table tennis: In other British news, Billy Shilton and Aaron McKibbin have won their Class 8 quarterfinal against Hungary 2-0. They won the doubles before Shelton swept Andras Csonka in the singles, obviating the need for the other singles match.
Gold for Azerbaijan and Brazil, two Great Britain bronzes
Swimming: The men’s 100m S12 goes to Raman Salei in a three-way tussle at the finish. He already won the 100 backstroke, now this. Azerbaijan have had a fine Games, with nine gold medals so far. Maksym Veraska, the Ukrainian favourite and world record holder, finishes a good two seconds outside his own fastest time and takes silver. Stephen Clegg wins the bronze for Great Britain.
Time for the women’s race. Hannah Russell in there for the Brits. The world record here is from London 2012, and Oxana Savchenko is not on the scene. Two Brazilians in the race. A charge for the finish between three, and Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago wins gold for Brazil! She won the 50, now the 100. Has the best start, first into the 50m wall, and holds off the Russian Daria Pikalova at the far end. Russell gets in a good turn, which helps her stay near the front for bronze.
RPC takes the first gold of the night in the pool
Swimming: Andrei Nikolaev goes out strongly in the men’s 400m S8, leading from start to finish - but only just at the finish. Alberto Amadeo is less than a second behind, and the Italian stayed on the Russian’s tail like a hound on a rabbit through the whole last two laps. Nearly looked like he had him in the final lap, until Nikolaev used some last reserves in the last few metres. Bronze to Matthew Torres of the USA.
In the women’s race, Australia’s Lakeisha Patterson holds the world record in the S8 from the Rio Games, but she swam (and won) in the S9 category this time around. At Tokoy this time, it’s a USA double: Morgan Stickney arriving first after a powerful final 50 takes her past Jessica Long, with Francesa Palazzo a long way further back for an Italian bronze. Palazzo now has one medal of each colour at these Games.
Updated
Football: Argentina lead Thailand 1-0 in the 5-a-side, still in the first half.
Boccia: Great Britain’s David Smith beats Thailand’s Witsanua Huadpradit in the individual BC1 quarterfinals. Score was 6-1.
Carol Cooke rides into silver
Road cycling: Jana Majunke wins gold in the women’s T1-2 time trial. It looks like Germany is on for a one-two, until Cooke’s final lap at a fast pace boosts her up from third in the standings to second. Angelika Kaeser ends up with bronze, Jill Walsh of the USA in fourth place.
Wheelhair tennis: Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid are through to the gold medal match of the men’s doubles, beating the hometown pair Shingo Kunieda and Takashi Sunada in straight sets.
What's on tonight?
On approx Tokyo time, my next five hours with you will include:
4:30 - Argentina Thailand in the men’s 5-a-side football.
5pm - Swiming finals begin in 400 free S8, 100 free S12, 200 IM SM14, 50 breaststroke SB2 and 3, 50 and 100 free S7, 100 butterfly S10 and 9, mixed 4x100 relay.
6:15 - Great Britain China women’s wheelchair basketball quarter-finals.
7pm - Medals in women’s T38 long jump final, men’s F20 shot put final, men’s 400m T20 final, men’s shot put F32 final.
7:30 - Medals in men’s high jump T63, men’s 400m T38, women’s 200m T64.
7:30 - Spain Morocco in the men’s 5-a-side football.
7:30 - Australia v Great Britain men’s team table tennis quarter final.
8pm - Medals in women’s 100m T11, T13, T47.
8:30 - Medals in women’s 400m T20, women’s 1500m T54.
Updated
Thanks Emma. Another avalanche of medals coming up tonight on track and field. The last of the cycling time trials is close to wrapping up. Australia’s Carol Cooke in bronze medal position there.
I’m going to hand you over to Mr Geoff Lemon now, who is here all week.
Ireland win gold in road cycling
The Irish tandem wins the women's B time trial! #ParaCycling #Gold Katie-George Dunlevy (pilot: Eve McCrystal) #IRE #Silver Lora Fachie (pilot: Corrine Hall) #GBR#Bronze Louise Jannering (pilot: Anna Svaerdstroem) #SWE@ParalympicsIRE @UCI_paracycling #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 31, 2021
Five-a-side football: In the men’s competition, China overcame Japan 2-0 earlier before Brazil beat France 4-0. That wraps up Group A, meaning leaders Brazil and second-placed China progress. Group B will be decided over the next few hours when Argentina face Thailand and Morocco play Spain.
Slovakia claim road cycling one-two
It’s Patrik Kuril (45:47.10) on top of the podium in the men’s C4 time trial and compatriot Jozef Metelka (46:05.05) next in line. GB’s George Peasgood (46:08.93) takes bronze just ahead of the USA’s Cody Jung (47:09.44).
Road cycling gold for GB
Benjamin Watson has done it in the men’s C3 time trial in 35:00.82, ahead of a German two-three of Steffen Warias (35:57.41) and Matthias Schindler (36:17.95). Other Brits Finlay Graham finished in fourth and Jaco van Gass sixth, while Australian David Nicholas finished eighth and American Joseph Berenyi back in 14th.
Hossain Rassouli, one of the two Paralympic athletes evacuated from Afghanistan in an emergency operation last week, has been able to take part in competition at Tokyo’s flagship Olympic Stadium.
The 26-year-old, who is primarily a sprinter, competed in the T47 long jump on Tuesday morning. He finished in last place, but recorded a personal best distance of 4m 46 as he took the applause of the competing athletes and delegates.
If Rassouli gave the appearance of being discombobulated, bewildered by the experience, then it was understandable. He flew into the country on Saturday night with his team mate Zakia Khudadadi after having been smuggled out of Kabul in dramatic circumstances.
In an international operation that included efforts on the part of ParalympicsGB, Rassouli and Khudadadi were able to enter Kabul airport thanks to the assistance of the Australian military who had a presence there.
Full story to come.
Updated
Goalball: For anyone yet to acquaint themselves with this superb sport exclusive to the vision-impaired, there is still time. The men’s quarter-finals are on now. China have already beaten Japan 7-4, the United States are currently losing 3-1 to Ukraine, and still to come are Belgium v Lithuania and Brazil v Turkey.
The lowdown is thus ...
The aim of the game is to roll the ball into the opponents’ goal as opposing players attempt to block it with their bodies. Bells inside the ball help orientate the three players for each team on an indoor court resembling those used for volleyball. Because the athletes rely on sound, all spectators must be silent during play.
The women’s quarter-finals are tomorrow (Wednesday), and Australia are playing in them for the first time.
Road cycling: There is some dialogue being exchanged at the Fuji International Speedway which can only be described as “Aussie banter”.
The Seven Network reporter on the ground, referred to by the studio as “Stubbsy”, asks Alistair Donohoe how he reacts to his bronze medal. “With absolute massive stoke,” replies Donohoe, who is known as the “flying mullet”.
Here is a photo of the great man after his track silver last week.
Congratulations @AlistairDonohoe!
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) August 27, 2021
SILVER in the Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit C5.#ReadySetTokyo #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics #ParaCycling pic.twitter.com/pnzt1wTyCk
Donohoe continues his interview.
“It’s just anticipation,” he says, “You have to wait five or six minutes to figure out where you’ve come. To sneak in for a bronze in a tight field it’s sensational. Disbelief.
“I had a pacing strategy that I worked through a lot with my coach knowing that the conditions could be tough. Today is mild ... I knew I was going to have to save a lot for the backend and just getting that reassurance and the splits, saying ‘this is the time gap, try to bring it home’. I might have started conservative but I ended with nothing in the tanks. I am just so happy.”
Updated
Road cycling gold for the Netherlands
The second session has started at the Fuji International Speedway and Daniel Abraham has just won gold in the men’s C5 time trial in a fashion which can only be described as dominant. The Dutchman finished in 42:46.45, ahead of Ukraine’s silver medallist Yegor Dementyev (43:19.11), while Australian Alistair Donohoe (43:36.80) claimed bronze.
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Speaking of images, here are the best across the board from yesterday:
Archery: There are some remarkable images coming out of Yumenoshima Park, where the morning session has finished. He Zihao won gold in the men’s open individual compound Iran’s Ramezan Biabani 147-143 in the final. China rounded out the podium after Ai Xinliang won his bronze medal match 144-142 against Slovak Marcel Pavlik.
Boccia: Good news for Australian Dan Michel, who has beaten Korea’s Kim Hansoo 8-0 in the BC3 quarter-finals. He will play Czech Adam Peska in the semis at 5.15pm local time.
Semi-final bound! The #AUS #Boccia team of @dan_michel95 and ramp asst Ash McClure are through to the #Tokyo2020 semi-finals.
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) August 31, 2021
Watch live on @7plus from 6.15pm (AEST): https://t.co/qZj9z7nwIb#ReadySetTokyo #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/IMvZxObTjR
Michel, who was born with spinal muscular atrophy, in 2016 became the first Australian athlete in 16 years to play boccia at the Paralympics.
The 26-year-old got into the sport in 2010 and in August said: “It was a real eye-opening moment for me to discover a sport that I could actually play, being someone living with a severe physical disability that had precluded me from playing every sport I had ever seen.
“I fell in love with the tactical aspect of the game which presents a pretty unique challenge that suits my skill set perfectly.”
Cuba reigns in women's T12 400m
Athletics: Cuban visually impaired sprinter Omara Durand Elías has absolutely rocked the T12 400m field to claimed her third straight title in the women’s in 52.58 seconds. She beat silver medallist Oxana Boturchuk (55.33) and Alejandra Paola Perez Lopez (57.06).
This latest gold brings the 29-year-old’s total to six across three Games.
Updated
Wheelchair basketball: The Australian women’s team have finished ninth after doing a 71-32 number on Algeria earlier.
The women’s quarter-finals are now under way, with the USA on the verge of beating Canada.
Also coming:
Germany v Spain
China v Great Britain
Netherlands v Japan
Updated
Road cycling: Sarah Storey eclipsed all competition to win her second gold medal in the C5 time trial on Tuesday morning. In doing so she also drew level with the swimmer Mike Kenny as the most successful British Paralympian of all time.
The Dame finished a minute and a half clear of teammate Crystal Lane-Wright and, at points, was catching the tail of the men’s race at the Fuji International Speedway circuit, so dominant was her performance. That is standard for Storey, who spoke afterwards of the “single-mindedness” that has brought her 16 gold medals to this point and the prospect of another, a record-breaking 17th, in two days’ time.
Updated
Athletics: Another Aussie success on Tuesday morning for James Turner, who won the men’s 400m (T36). Turner finished well ahead in 52.80 seconds, pushing himself so close to the limit he required medical attention afterwards (all was fine).
“I’m quite emotional right now,” he said. “A lot of work has been done by a lot of people to get me here. The last 50 of a 400 is always hard – the heat and the effort. My muscles started tightening up, I started losing control of them, but I was able to hold it together with my training.”
Bit to catch up on from this morning, with Australian Darren Hicks adding a Paralympic road cycling gold to track silver medal. He was pretty emotional afterwards but managed to articulate a message for his wife Carys who was watching on back at home.
“Sorry I stressed you out babe, but we got there,” he told the Seven Network. “I think I’ll be excited later, but for now it’s relief. I’ve worked so hard for this and wanted it for so long… I’m just so happy.
“The warmup was perfect, I’ve never had my heart rate so low. My leg felt perfect. I just Went out and executed the plan. Just let it all loose on the third. It worked out brilliant.”
Preamble
Hello and welcome to day seven of the Tokyo Paralympics. Tokyo is again hot and humid, and again there are a stack of medals to be won. Here are a few highlights coming our way, courtesy of my colleague Martin Belam.
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Wolverhampton, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco.
If you only watch one thing: 8am and 1.30pm Road cycling – already done is the morning of time trial racing at the same F1 circuit that was used as the venue for the Olympics, where 12 gold medals awarded (more on that soon). A second session starts at 1.30pm, featuring another seven races.
- 9am Archery – a long day of competition in the Yumenoshima Final Field, with the final of the men’s individual compound coming at 1.35pm and the final of the women’s individual W1 contest at 8.42pm
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9am Wheelchair basketball – the women’s competition reaches the knockout stage. A disappointed Australia squad have alrady beaten Algeria 71-32 in the 9th/10th place play-off, and then it is onto the quarter-finals. Canada are midway through their match against a misfiring US outfit, followed by unbeaten Germany v Spain. It’s then a tough ask for the British women. They qualified for the next stage despite winning only one of their pool matches, and Great Britain are up against an unbeaten China. The Netherlands against the hosts Japan completes the quartet, with matches running all through the day.
- 9.30am and 7pm Athletics – two sessions as usual, 24 medals to be one. From 7.52pm to 8.56pm there’s an incredible set of women’s finals, including three varieties of 100m, a 200m, a 400m and the T54 1500m
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9.30 Shooting – another day at the Asaka Shooting Range features the women’s 10m pistol SH1 final at noon (Iran’s Sareh Javanmardi won gold), and the men’s 10m pistol SH1 final at 2.30pm
- 10am and 4.30pm Table tennis – if you like quarter-finals, have I got news for you. There’s 33 table tennis quarter-finals on Tuesday. Yes, I know 33 is a weirdly specific and uneven number, but I’ve counted three times. Thirty-three.
- 10.45am and 4pm Boccia – there’s almost a whole day’s worth of individual quarter-final contests in the boccia to, and then by 5.15pm we are at the semi-final stage
- 1.15pm Goalball – the men’s contest has reached – you guessed it – the quarter-final stage. The opening match sees the hosts Japan against China, then 2016 silver medallists the USA face Ukraine at 3pm, defending champions Lithuania take on Belgium at 5.45, and Rio bronze medallists Brazil will play Turkey at 7.30pm.
- 5pm Swimming – the evening session features 14 finals again today, and ends with the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay 49 points final
Updated
