Top 5 Qualify (Top 3, and 2 fastest from both heats)
4.00.82 Shelly Woods, 28 (ENG)
4.01.69 Angela Ballard, 32, (AUS)
4.03.41 Samantha Kinghorn, 18, (SCO)
4.05.04 Ajara Mohammed, 40, (GHA)
4.08.99 Lauren Rowles, 16 (ENG)
4.53.65 Eunice Adhlambo Oteino, 32 (KEN)
4.53.93 Rahel Akoth Alar, 35 (KEN)
Shelley WOODS (ENG)
“For me it’s all about preparing for this, I just take each race as it comes and go for it.”
“It’s good to get out and race, there’s some really competitive girls so the final will be good.”
Samantha KINGHORN (SCO)
On her performance:
“That wasn’t too tough. I’m in good shape for the final. I’m not somebody who can push from the front but I know I’ve got a sprint finish. My first target was to get to the final and I’m proud.”
On the atmosphere in the stadium:
“The atmosphere was amazing. There was a Mexican wave following me around the track. That was much more than I expected.”
T54 classification – athletes have normal hand or arm function, reduced leg or trunk functions and race in wheelchairs.
About the athletes…
Lauren Rowles, 16 (ENG)
Classification
T54
Origin of Impairment
Illness
Impairment Details
She was diagnosed with transverse myelitis in 2012. The condition caused her to lose the mobility in both legs.
Start of sporting career
She took up para-athletics in 2012.
Reason for taking up this sport
She loves the sense of achievement she gets from the sport.
Ambitions
To compete at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Training
She trains six times per week. She has two sessions on the track at Coventry Godiva Harriers in England, and spends the rest of the time training on rollers in her training room.
Hero
US wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden.
Shelly Woods, 28 (ENG)
Classification
T54
Type of Impairment
Spinal Cord Injuries
Origin of Impairment
Accident
Impairment Details
In 1997 she was playing hide-and-seek with friends and fell from a tree. She broke her back, damaged her spinal cord and was paralysed from the waist down.
Start of sporting career
She began wheelchair racing at age 15.
Reason for taking up this sport
Her first coach Jason Gil let her try his racing wheelchair and she loved it.
Ambitions
To win a gold medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Training
She trains six days a week in Kirby and Kingston in England.
Most memorable sporting achievement
Setting a new world record for the 1500m in 2010.
Hero
British wheelchair racer David Weir.
