The ParalympicsGB athletics squad had another unforgettable ride in Paris, securing 18 Paralympic medals, with six golds, across nine days of athletics action.
In the third part of our ParalympicsGB highlights series, our editor, Emma Purcell, heads around the track and field, showcasing the best of the athletics from the British athletes in the Stade de France.
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Medals galore for Sammi Kinghorn
Scottish wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn had spectacular success in Paris, reaching the podium in all five of her races. She opened her Paralympics campaign with a silver in the Women’s T53 800m. Two days later, she followed it up with another silver in the Women’s T54 1500m.
Almost 24 hours later, Sammi went up a gear, securing her first Paralympic gold in the Women’s T53 100m in a Paralympic record time of 15.64s.
On winning gold, Sammi said: “Honestly, I don’t think I’m going to believe it until the medal is actually around my neck. I really wanted to give Catherine [Debrunner] a really good race. I beat her once this year, but she beat me every other time, but I knew our times were within a tenth of each other, so I just wanted to make sure that my start was really strong. I just can’t believe that I’ve done that. It’s honestly absolutely blowing my mind.”
Sharing what was going through her head at the finish line, Sammi added: “I just wanted to make sure I’d actually won it. I didn’t want to celebrate too early. I just wanted to definitely make sure that my name was at the top of that screen, so it took a little moment to actually compose myself and go, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve actually just done that.’”
She then rang the now iconic victory bell that all gold medal athletes get to ring at the Stade de France, which is part of the massive refurb of the Notre Dame Cathedral. It has been said the bell will be removed from the stadium after the Games and hung in one of the Cathedral’s bell towers.
Sammi concluded the Games by claiming two more silver medals in the Women’s T53 400m and as part of the GB team in the Mixed 4x100m relay, alongside Zac Shaw, Jonnie Peacock and Ali Smith.
After the relay, Sammi reacted on winning her fifth medal of the week: “It was amazing. I was pretty prepared for the Chinese (Hu Yang) to come past me pretty fast, so I just wanted to get as close I could get to him to secure that silver medal. I’m just so buzzing that we got that.”
Fellow wheelchair racers Hannah Cockroft and Kare Adenegan also secured medal success on the track, with Hannah winning two golds and Kare winning silvers in the T38 100m and 800m.
Dan Pembroke strikes gold and back-to-back world records in the javelin throw
Visually impaired javelin thrower Dan Pembroke won gold in the F13 Men’s javelin with a world record throw of 74.49m. Dan is now a two-time Paralympic gold medallist following his success in Tokyo.
Reviewing his performance in Paris, Dan said: “It was incredible. I was doing my visualisations two days ago, and I thought I had a 72m throw in me. That first world record (71.13m), I thought, that’s pretty good, just over the world record. Then the Iranian, Ali Pirouj, responded with a 69m throw, so I thought, ‘the job’s not done yet’.
“I had to dig deep and really push that boundary a little bit more. This is what I love, I love javelin throwing. I’m in my element here.
He added: “This is the best moment of my life. I couldn’t have done it without all the support from back home. My coach, John Trower, my family, who are are so supportive. The National Lottery and the players have made sure I’m funded so I can train to my best and these are the fruits of that labour, world records.”
Stunning sprint finish for Ben Sandilands
Ben Sandilands powered to Men’s 1500m T20 gold in world record time on Paralympic debut.
Ben, who was crowned World Champion on debut in the French capital last year, surged clear of the field with a lap to go.
The 21-year-old crossed the line for victory in a brilliant 3:45.40, slicing a tenth of a second off the previous and taking 1.6 seconds off his personal best.
The rest were in the rearview as Ben won by a margin of more than four seconds, with Portugal’s Sandro Baessa taking silver and USA’s Michael Brannigan bronze.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Ben. “I’ve put in so much hard work and I want to thank my family and friends, and my coach Steve Doig. I knew I had the speed in me at the end from my training.
“The timing has to be perfect and I went for it, and the world record means a lot. It’s incredible.”
Satisfying shot put throw for Sabrina Fortune
Sabrina Fortune won gold medal in the Women’s F20 shot put with a new world record of 15.12m.
Reacting to her world record, Sabrina said: “I still can’t believe it, especially on the first throw. I was expecting about 14m on the first throw, just a simple throw and then I hit the world record and I just wanted to jump up and down and celebrate right then and then I remembered I have five more throws after that and couldn’t do it yet.
“I’ve been going for this since Rio. Ever since a little girl, I didn’t expect, with my limb disability, to do an event like this. To be able to go on the world stage, it’s a crazy experience and it’s something I’m so proud I’ve been able to do and it’s just amazing.”
Commenting on the atmosphere, Sabrina added: “It’s like magical, it’s like you’re walking into a world that is just crazy. The roar around you is deafening. I was so scared after watching it on TV the last four or five days, I was so scared of going out there, but it was so amazing. It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. And being able to do that clap at the end and getting everyone to join in, that was something that was amazing and I’m so happy I got the experience to do it.”
Didi Okoh wins dramatic bronze on penultimate night of the Paralympics
Didi Okoh was in disbelief as she claimed bronze from her debut final with a PB time of 14.59 in the Women’s T63 final.
The sprinter had earlier broken the T42 Paralympic record to advance to the showpiece and was the last track athlete to make their Paris bow.
Didi claimed bronze but faced a long wait to confirm it following a review, which saw Italy’s Monica Graziana Contrafatto upgraded to joint-bronze having been taken out centimetres before the finish line by her falling compatriot Ambra Sabatini.
Didi dipped below her heat time to win bronze and finish behind gold medallist Martina Caironi of Italy and Karisma Evi Tiarani of Indonesia, who set a new world and Paralympic T42 record.
“Anything can happen in a race, a 100m is always full of surprises and this happened to be one,” Didi said.
“I am very happy, I am very sad for the other Italians that were in the race, I can imagine that is a lot to be so close to the line and have it gone in a split second.
“I’m really proud for pushing myself to the line because my one goal was a PB, I wanted to run a really good race and just put on a show, hopefully I did.”
The other ParalympicsGB athletics medal results are:
- Aled Davies – Men’s Shot Put F63 – Silver
- Marcus Perrineau Daley – Men’s 100m T52 – Silver
- Hollie Arnold – Women’s Javelin Throw F46 – Bronze
- Anna Nicholson – Women’s Shot Put T35 – Bronze
- Zac Shaw – Men’s 100m T12 – Bronze
Be sure to catch up on the ParalympicsGB athletics squad at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Channel 4.
Check out our Paris 2024 ParalympicsGB debutants interview series.