Wrap of day 9 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

08 Sep 2012
Wrap of day 9 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

Swimming
Wellington’s Mary Fisher swiped ten seconds off the Oceania 400 m S11 freestyle record tonight and finished just under 2 seconds off the bronze medal.

The 19 year old had already broken the old Oceania record in the heat this morning, before returning a 5:22.09 in the medal race, with Germany’s Daniela Sculte bagging gold in 5:14.36.

Fisher’s rich vein of form has carried her through the London competition and with 2 silvers and a bronze in her cabinet already, the Kilbernie swimmer is promising more to come in her final event, the 200 m IM tomorrow. “Tomorrow it’s all on again.”

“The crowd is amazing, I can’t put it into words how good it is to be standing behind the blocks, being a finalist at the Paralympic Games and you’ve got seventeen thousand people cheering really loudly and then they go completely silent for the start. It’s been an amazing experience.”

And while today may have been a quiet day on the medal front, tomorrow is shaping up as a possible windfall for the Kiwis. Sophie Pascoe completes her hectic schedule in the 100 m breaststroke, as does Daniel Sharp. Fisher is back for her favoured individual medley, Tim Prendergast hits the track after qualifying third fastest in the 800 m and Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson are on the bike for the last time at Brands Hatch in the individual B women’s road race.

Athletics
Tim Prendergast treated his T13 800 m qualifier as the second to last chance he’ll get to perform in front of eighty thousand people, stopping the clock at 1:58.21 and qualifying third fastest for tomorrows final.

Prendergast finished 21 seconds behind the top qualifier Abdelillah Mame of Morocco, but was ecstatic with his race, knowing he had control of it the whole way. “I just had to reach the final and anything can happen.”

“I’m feeling pretty good and this crowd is something else.” Competing at his fourth Paralympics, Prendergast admitted this is likely to be his last competing on the track and wants to add another medal to his collection from Sydney and Athens.

Cycling
Sue Reid hung tough on the gruelling H1-3 road race course, but things were again made difficult for the athletes by the fact that there are so many races taking place on the 8 kilometre motor raceway circuit at the same time.

Reid finished in 8th in a creditable 2 hours 39 seconds, but was unable to catch the winner from America who took the chequered flag in 1:41.34.

- Paralympics New Zealand

ENDS

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