13 September 2016 

It was gold medal number two of these Paralympic Games for Libby Clegg (coach: Joe McDonnell) and guide Chris Clarke as they took the T11 200m title in dominant fashion.

Clegg and Clarke composed themselves after home favourite Terezhina Guilhermina was disqualified for a false start. This didn’t disrupt the rhythm of the British duo as blasted out of the blocks and led as they hit the home straight. The Chinese pairs applied pressure to the duo early on but Clegg and Clarke looked serene over the final 100m as they captured their second title of the week, in a Paralympic record of 24.51 (+0.1), just 0.07 seconds outside their world record.

Clegg commented post-medal ceremony: “It is a dream come true; I am absolutely over the moon. The 200m is actually my better event and I love it so I’m so happy that we took the gold in this one.

“2017 will be exciting – we definitely know we can go faster. I obviously didn’t get a PB today so that is something we will be working on. Same in the 100m; I had a shocker of a start so we can go even faster in that one as well. Competing in front of a home crowd again will be great and I will thrive off that.”

Clarke who has overcome illness is the last couple of days added: “I’d call it man flu – I did feel awful. I was going to call yesterday thinking ‘I just want to cry right now.’ But it’s been an absolute adventure to have been involved in and I’m so grateful to Libby for letting me be a part of it.”

In a fascinating men’s T54 1500m final, David Weir (Jenny Archer) crossed the line in fourth place, setting a time of 3:01.08. It was a tough contest for the six-time Paralympic champion who had to come around from sixth position on the final lap. Despite his best efforts with 200m to go, he could not catch the runaway leaders including eventual winner Prawat Wahoram from Thailand.

Speaking after his race, Weir said: “I just didn’t get the right wheel – I saw (Saichon) Konjen was fast in the heats so I thought I had his wheel but maybe I should have had Prawat’s (Wahoram) wheel but then everyone is trying to get that.”

Weir, who still has the 800m, 4x400m relay and marathon to come this week added: “I was quicker and better than I felt yesterday so that is a positive sign. It was a lot bigger top speed than yesterday but that’s the T54 men, that’s how it’s gone all year – it’s been competitive. The Thai athletes have really knuckled down and prepared well for this. They did a couple of races in Europe and then came straight into this – Prawat has come in and won two gold medals. He was close to me in London (2012) so he is a great athlete.”

Earlier in the day, the ParalympicsGB athletics team added more medals to their tally, with Hollie Arnold (Anthony Hughes) and Georgie Hermitage (Paul MacGregor) winning gold in the F46 javelin and T37 400m respectively, both in world records. At his sixth Paralympic Games, Stephen Miller (Ros Miller) added his sixth medal from the Games, a bronze in the F32 club throw.

ParalympicsGB Athletics medal tally: (21)

Gold (11):

Hollie Arnold – F46 Javelin

Libby Clegg & Chris Clarke – T11 100m and 200m

Aled Davies – F42 Shot Put

Sophie Hahn – T38 100m

Georgie Hermitage – T37 100m and 400m

Jonnie Peacock – T44 100m

Hannah Cockroft – T34 100m  

Richard Whitehead – T42 200m

Jo Butterfield – T51 club throw

Silver (4):

Kare Adenegan – T34 100m

Jonathan Broom-Edwards – T44 High Jump

Toby Gold – T33 100m

Stef Reid – T44 long jump

Bronze (6):

Kadeena Cox – T38 100m

Gemma Prescott – F32 club throw

Sabrina Fortune – F20 shot put

Stephen Miller – F32 Club Throw

Andrew Small – T33 100m 

David Henson – T42 200m