Successes in the pool and in the equestrian competition leave ParalympicsGB in second place on the medal table. Here’s a round-up of the action from Tuesday 3 September 2024.
Full circle
Faye Rogers won gold in the S10 100m butterfly with teammate, Callie-Ann Warrington close to catching her. More than that, however, Rogers’ victory illustrates exactly why the Paralympics are important and what sport can do for disabled people.
Three years ago, to the day, Faye Rogers was involved in a traffic collision on her way to university and just months after competing in Olympic trials. Her consultant told her that while he could save her arm, he could not save her swimming career. Yesterday’s S10 butterfly final proved him to be only half right.
“It’s exactly three years as of now since my accident, so it’s a bit emotional” said Rogers, adding: “It’s a big full circle moment and I couldn’t have asked for more from the past three years. Coming into parasport has been the best thing, I couldn’t be more grateful for this journey and I have learned so much about myself.”
In the most delightful way
ParalympicsGB have been pulling off surprises in every aspect of the Paralympics, another example being Natasha Baker’s bronze medal performance in the championship test grade III, on her horse, Dawn Chorus. Despite being absent from the sport for 20 months after giving birth to her first child, Joshua. Natasha was quick to praise Dawn Chorus as ‘practically perfect’ to the extent that she refers to her ride by the nickname ‘Mary Poppins’.
Teammate, Georgia Wilson, riding Sakura, also achieved bronze in the individual grade II competition.
Losing count
Wheelchair racer, Sammi Kinghorn achieved an unexpected silver medal in the T54 1,500m – despite stopping with 200m to go, having lost count of how many laps she’d completed. Kinghorn, who has three more chances to medal in other disciplines, explained: “I got a bit disorientated and stopped – it’s so loud in the stadium, which we’re not used to”.
