9 September 2016

Stef Reid (coach: Aston Moore) and Gemma Prescott (Mike Wood) won ParalympicsGB’s first track and field medals on the Paralympic Games winning silver and bronze respectively.

Reid matched her performance from London 2012 in the T44 long jump and was only denied victory by a world record from long-time rival Marie Amelie le Fur, with her French athlete jumping 5.83m. The 31 year old finished with a best of 5.64m and admitted there were mixed emotions after winning her third Paralympic medal.

Reid said: “It feels amazing to win another Paralympic medal – I was initially disappointed but it took an amazing jump to take the gold medal today, her (Marie-Amelie Le-Fur) whole series was very impressive.

“Obviously the gold is what I was after but I was proud with how I jumped and to be taking the silver medal home with me. I’m still motivated and aiming to jump even further next year. London 2017 is a target for me, but I will take a break and see what I need to work on.”

Prescott also repeated her feats from the last Paralympic Games, as the 32 year old produced a best throw of 19.77m in the third round to pip teammate Abbie Hunnisett (Anthony Hughes) to a podium finish. After also winning European bronze earlier this summer, it has been a successful 2016 for Prescott.

“It was a great experience, the crowd was great and it was good to see them getting behind para sport. It has been a great 2016 for me, and to finish it off with a Paralympic medal is something special. I’ve worked hard this year and had a lot of support from family and friends, and my coach (Mike Wood) has been a great support, and pulled everything together. It will be a nice moment to get on the podium.”

Libby Clegg (Joe McDonnell) and guide runner Chris Clarke set a world record on their way to qualifying fastest for the T11 100m final later this evening. It was a staggering run from the duo, who stopped the clock at 11.91 (+0.7), there fastest ever run during their partnership. However, after a protest they were initially disqualified, but an appeal was lodged which was ultimately successful. The pair will go on to compete in tonight’s final at 22:52 UK time.  

Clegg said afterwards: “Obviously I’m really happy but the job is not done yet, we have the final tonight so we don’t want to get our hopes up too much. It puts us in a great position and the girls we are competing against are absolutely incredible. You have Terezinha and the two Chinese girls who are fantastic. Zhou is now a sub-12 runner so I know she is a really big competitor. So I’m looking forward to tonight, fingers crossed.”

There were contrasting fortunes for the British contingent in the T53 100m, as reigning Paralympic champion Mickey Bushell (Jenny Archer) qualified for this evening’s final but Mo Jomni (Archer) narrowly missed out.

Bushell, who has endured an injury-disrupted four years since his triumph at London 2012 showed that he getting back to his best form on finishing second in his heat crossing the line in 15.04 (+0.1). His teammate Jomni was edged into fourth place in the following heat 15.64 (-0.2), with Canada’s Brent Lakatos setting a new Paralympic record to take the win in 14.43.

There was also heartbreak for Jordan Howe (Keith Antoine), who was disqualified for a false start in the heats of the T35 100m. However, Howe will be back for the 200m on Sunday, where he will look to bounce back and show the form that saw him win double bronze at the IPC European Championships earlier this summer.