03 September 2012

It was a very quiet morning from an UK perspective, barring David Weir’s medal ceremony, with just four Britons competing.

The 2008 Paralympic silver medallist Mickey Bushell (Fred Periac) qualified as the fastest for  tonight’s T53 100m final. He timed 14.86 and was the only athlete below 15 seconds.

David Weir (Jenny Archer) was back in action prior to his medal ceremony. He competed in the T54 1500m and though he qualified as third fastest overall with 3:11.35, he only qualified automatically by five hundredths of a second.

He said, “I had to squeeze through and that was the aim. I’ve so much more in the tank and that’s good to know as I only had a few hours sleep. It was alright. Maybe I should have come round Marcel Hug I had bags of speed in my arms, I didn’t feel like I was struggling at any point so that just shows how fit I am really. It’s the adrenaline as well from last night. It was a little bit difficult as I had to go through doping control and that took a few hours. I didn’t get through there ’til 1am and I didn’t get back to my room til 3.30 and my body clock wakes up at 6:00. I’ve got a lot of recovering to do today and I’m glad the final is tomorrow night."

In the Women’s T54 400m, 16 year-old Jade Jones (Ian Thompson/Tanni Grey-Thompson)  was unable to reproduce her 55.91 PB form which made her second fastest of those competing in her heat and she timed 59.14 in sixth place and missed out on qualifying for the final by a second.

She said, “I wasn’t at my best but I did what I could. I didn’t expect to get selected so I was just happy to be here and aged 16 there wasn’t much pressure on me and I couldn’t have asked for more than the crowd support around the stadium.”

David Devine (Brian Scobie) won his T12 800m heat in style in a fast 1:55.97, which was the day’s fastest.

He said, “That was so much better than yesterday. The 1500m is my better event but it took me by surprise last night. Mentally I’d prepared for a slower race, maybe something around 4:05 and I just didn’t have it when it went off quickly. Also, with my eyesight, it took me a while to adapt as it was the first time I’d ever been in the full stadium. I made a move with 300m to go but got boxed in a bit but I knew I had the strength to take it. It’s so much easier with 80,000 people behind you. I felt back to normal today, my legs felt good, and I’m now looking forward to my two finals.”

More to come later today