Day 6 Wrap: Medals continue to flow gold and silver for NZ

Published on 14-Sep-2016

Medals continue to flow gold and silver for New Zealand Paralympic Team in Rio

New Zealand wins 1 GOLD and 2 SILVER on Day 6, taking medal tally to 16 overall

New Zealand results to date:

Highlights from Rio today:

• GOLD – Nikita Howarth, Women's 200m Individual Medley SM7 Final

• SILVER – Sophie Pascoe, Women's 100m Freestyle S10 Final

• SILVER – Holly Robinson, Women's Javelin F46 Final

• Sophie Pascoe breaks clear of Eve Rimmer’s total medal tally of 14, with 15 (9 gold; 6 silver

• 7th – Hamish McLean, in his first ever Paralympic Final at 16-years-old, Men's 400m Freestyle S6

The river of gold and silver continued to flow in Rio today, with New Zealand picking up another three Paralympic medals. The highlight was a commanding GOLD from 17-year-old Nikita Howarth, with two epic clashes for Sophie Pascoe and Holly Robinson each leading to well-earned SILVER medals.

The New Zealand Paralympic Games Team now has 16 MEDALS in total, 8 GOLD, 5 SILVER and 3 BRONZE. This total takes it to within 2 medals of its overall target of 18 medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, and to within 4 medals of its target to reach 12 gold medals. With 4 days still left of competition, the team believes meeting the targets are possible, although all athletes will need to push to their absolute limits. The success of the team as a whole has certainly been inspirational for today’s medallists; all talked about their joy for their team-mates as helping give them that extra boost.

Overall, as the day winds to a close and the temperature still sits at stifling 37 degrees, the fact that New Zealand has jumped Australia on the medal table to 6th will likely be a conversation topic tonight!

PARA-SWIMMING

Nikita Howarth

Paralympian Nikita Howarth put in a phenomenal swim today in Rio de Janeiro, to pick up her second medal of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games - a GOLD in the Women's 200m Individual Medley SM7. This result follows hard on the heels of her performance yesterday, which saw Howarth collect her first ever Paralympic medal, a BRONZE in the Women's 50m Butterfly S7. At just 13 years old, Howarth became New Zealand’s youngest ever Paralympian at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

Howarth did the business today in 2:57.29, 5 seconds ahead of Tess Routliffe (Canada) and 7 seconds ahead of Courtney Jordan (USA). She went into the finals after taking a commanding lead in her heat today, to qualify fastest for the final in a time of 2:58.82, 4.5 seconds faster than her rivals.

Howarth said: “It feels a lot different to come first in a race compared to coming third, but I do quite like both feelings – bronze and gold, I can’t ask for more than that! It feels amazing to win medals in Rio, compared to London where I was still young. I have been going from strength-to-strength in training so when I come into a big competition I can smash it, so I am really happy. When I see how well everyone else on the team is doing, it just buzzes me up and gets me going, because it’s so exciting seeing other New Zealand team members getting gold – I’m like wow, that’s so cool, that’s where I am from.”

Sophie Pascoe

Sophie Pascoe won her last event at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, taking out the SILVER in the Women's 100m Freestyle S10 in Rio de Janeiro in a time of 59.85, just five tenths behind Aurelie Rivard (Canada) in the gold medal position, and well over a second ahead of third placed Elodie Lorandi (France). Pascoe qualified second behind Rivard earlier today, with the Canadian Para-Swimmer having to set a Paralympic record in the heats and then again in the Finals to beat Pascoe.

Yesterday, Pascoe matched New Zealand Paralympian Eve Rimmer’s record of 14 Paralympic medals. Her gold in the Women's 100m Butterfly S10 edged her ahead of Rimmer by merit of having 1 more gold medal. However, tonight’s result takes her free and clear, as the most successful Paralympian New Zealand has ever produced, with a stunning 15 Paralympic medals: 9 gold, 6 silver.

The win also continues her absolute domination of the pool here in Rio, making her total medal count 3 GOLD and 2 SILVER. Pascoe also took out New Zealand’s 200th Paralympic medal early this week.

Pascoe said: “As you see, it’s a good fight, the old 100 free, and I think it’s really exciting that we’ve got an amazing rivalry and friendship between us girls out there. Aurelie was the better person on the day. I gave it everything, I’ve left everything out in that last race and that’s all I can give. To be able to back up race after race in 5 days, which equals 10 races, is pretty challenging in itself. To be honest I am happy with how its ended. It may not be the gold but it’s been a tough week and it’s been an amazing week also. And a bit of an emotional rollercoaster as well. But that’s what you expect out of our Paralympic Games, you know. You are at the pinnacle of the pinnacle and you get to race with the peak. I’m just glad it’s finished!”

Hamish McLean

Following his very near miss yesterday, New Zealand’s second youngest Paralympian, 16-year-old Hamish McLean, made his first ever Paralympic Final today. McLean who took nearly 5 seconds off his personal best in a time of 5:22.88 to qualify 6th fastest for the Men’s 200m Freestyle S6. McLean then swam to 7th overall in the Final, a few seconds slower than his heat, in a time of 5:22.88.

McLean said: “I am pretty overwhelmed right now, very happy and so stoked to be here and represent New Zealand. I hope they think I have done them proud and Wanaka as well. This has been such a big learning curve for me and for the rest of my swimming career. I hope to take this experience, learn from it and perform even better in Tokyo 2020.”

Tupou Neiufi

Following her Paralympic debut yesterday, New Zealand’s youngest team member, 15-year-old Tupou Neiufi, made her second appearance, this time finishing 5th in the Women’s 50m Freestyle S9 in a time of 31.37, not qualifying for her final. Neiufi continues to make great progress here in Rio.

PARA-ATHLETICS

Holly Robinson

New Zealand’s flag bearer Holly Robinson was in personal best form as she won silver in the Women’s Javelin F46 at Athletics Stadium in Rio. Robinson threw a massive personal best of 41.22m on her fifth attempt to secure the silver medal. She proudly took the New Zealand flag once again from her supporters, and held it high as she celebrated her success. The gold was won by Holly Arnold (Great Britain) with a world record throw of 43.01m.

Robinson said: “It felt awesome out there. I warmed up really well and was feeling really good. I opened up with a good distance which I was happy with, I wanted to start off like that and just built on it. It felt great to be out there and the crowd was awesome. The Brazilian crowds really get behind the competitors here and I loved it.”

PARA-SHOOTING

Michael Johnson

Four-time Paralympian, Para-Shooter Michael Johnson, was back in action today at the Olympic Shooting Range in Deodoro, in the qualifying rounds for his second event of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the R5 - Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2. Disappointingly, Johnson did not qualify for the Final despite spending the majority of the first part of session in the Top 3. One poor round sent him to the back of the field and he was unable to recover from it. It was the end to a very disappointing campaign for the 3-time Paralympic medallist, including gold medallist at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, who went out of his other event earlier this week after an equipment malfunction on his rifle.

Johnson said: “So I started off and I was feeling pretty confident after the last couple of days of training. I changed to my back-up rifle because I was a bit worried, as my first rifle was having some technical problems. So I changed to my back-up; that’s going great. I started off awesome, little bit nervous, feeling a bit hot, but I just slowly got into the groove and was cruising along and then – one of my shots, I was just holding on for a bit too long. So rather than just trying to take your shot, you pull away and then start again – re-set. But just as I pulled away, my finger bumped the trigger and I shot a 3. Once you shoot a shot that low, it’s really difficult to come back. It’s a very tough field and there are a lot of top shooters that are out. But I was pretty confident that I would have been in the final, but it’s not to be. Now it’s about looking forward, I have Tokyo in my sights. I’ll start again.”

Jason Eales

Meanwhile, Paralympic debutant Jason Eales shot in the same event, finishing in 17th of 34 – a superb effort for the rookie. He did not make the Final.

“It is such an honour to compete here in Rio and to now be a New Zealand Paralympian. I was quite relieved when it was over to be honest as we have had such a long build up to get to this point. I felt really calm and focussed. There were a few times when my focus was fading, but I just focussed on the process and came back into it again. I was hoping for top eight but what I achieved now is great and I am really happy with placing 17th out of 34 shooters on my debut. I am definitely keen to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and to have this experience in Rio behind me will be a huge advantage at my second Paralympic Games.”

PARA-SAILING

Andrew May, Rick Dodson and Chris Sharp

Following on from their superb first day on the water yesterday to finish 2nd, Andrew May, Rick Dodson and Chris Sharp faced a challenging day today, as the conditions deteriorated and only 1 of 2 races scheduled went ahead. The second was postponed until tomorrow to make a busy day, with three back-to-back races. The kiwis were doing quite well initially, but dropped to 6th position, which still leaves them 4th place behind Australia, Canada and Greece with 7 races to go before the medals.

Double Paralympian, Andrew May said: “It was a really long day today, a lot of waiting around for the conditions to improve. Once we were on the water, it was a very interesting afternoon of racing. We felt really good and had a good run down and back, but then the wind changed and the other boats that had chosen a different route benefited and we didn’t. But that’s the sport! One thing we are very grateful for was all the extra training we did with the tides in Waitemata Harbour, as we’ve been able to bring a lot of that experience over to Guanabara Bay.”

WHAT’S ON TOMORROW

Late call-up, Para-Canoeist Scott Martlew makes his first appearance at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games tomorrow in the Men's 200m KL3. The Para-Cyclists move to the road section of the Games. Gold medallist Nikita Howarth and Bronze medallist Rebecca Dubber will be back in the pool again and Greg Reid will compete as the last of the Para-Shooters. The Para-Sailors will have a 3-race day.

• Para-Swimmers: Nikita Howarth, Rebecca Dubber

• Para-Cyclists: Kate Horan, Fraser Sharp, Emma Foy & Laura Thompson, Amanda Cameron & Hannah van Kampen, Stephen Hills

• Para-Shooters: Greg Reid

• Para-Athletics: Liam Malone, Jessica Hamill

• Para-Canoeist: Scott Martlew

• Para-Sailors: Chris Sharp, Andrew May and Rick Dodson

The 31-strong New Zealand Paralympic Games Team will compete at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games between 8-19 September 2016 NZT, with a mighty global contingent of 4,350 other athletes from 160 countries. The Paralympics is the world’s largest multi-sport event for disabled athletes. New Zealand will contest six Para-Sports, chasing a target of 18 medals in total, including 12 gold medals.

Where can kiwis watch our Paralympians in action?

Views can catch the New Zealand Paralympic Team in action at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games by tuning into DUKE on Freeview 13, Sky 23 or online at www.tvnz.co.nz/duke (find daily schedule here: www.tvnz.co.nz/paralympics2016/schedule), by watching the daily highlights programme on TV1 at 9.30pm, or by visiting www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/paralympics or http://attitudelive.com/rio-2016-paralympics to watch on demand. Results will also be shown on ONE News, Breakfast and Seven Sharp. Additionally, coverage can be found by visiting the Paralympics website: www.paralympic.org.

In addition to this and as a result of huge public interest in New Zealand TVNZ has created a second live stream so you can choose between the coverage of DUKE or live Para-Swimming or Para-Athletics action:

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/paralympics-swimming AND

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/paralympics-athletics

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Earlier:

Published on 13-Sep-2016

New Zealand wins 3 GOLD and 1 BRONZE on Day 5, taking medal tally to 13 overall!

New Zealand results to date:

Highlights from Rio today:

· GOLD & WORLD RECORD – Cameron Leslie, Men's 150m Individual Medley SM4 Final

· GOLD – Sophie Pascoe, Women's 100m Butterfly S10 Final

· GOLD – Liam Malone, Men's 200m T44 Final

· BRONZE & first ever Paralympic medal – Nikita Howarth, Women's 50m Butterfly S7 Final

· Sophie Pascoe now most successful New Zealand Paralympian in history with 14 medals, 9 gold

· 2nd equal on Day 1 of 5 – Andrew May, Rick Dodson and Chris Sharp, 3-Person Keelboat (Sonar)

· 5th, PB & Paralympic record (broken shortly afterward) – William Stedman, Men’s Long Jump T36

The New Zealand Paralympic Team has today had what must be the most successful single day in its 48-year history, collecting a record 2 GOLD medals and 1 BRONZE in the pool and 1 GOLD at the athletics track. The team, which had already had an outstanding start to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, came in to today with 9 medals in the bag, to add another 4. The most successful day before today was Saturday NZT, when the team won 4 medals in just one hour; 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze.

The first 2 medals came via epic races from seasoned performers, three-time Paralympians Cameron Leslie in the Men’s 150 Individual Medley SM4 and Sophie Pascoe in the Women’s 100m Butterfly S10. Leslie won gold and smashed his own World Record for the second Paralympic Games in a row. In securing gold, Pascoe became New Zealand’s most successful Paralympian ever, matching the medal haul of legendary Paralympian Eve Rimmer with 14, edging ahead of Rimmer with 9 gold to 8. Pascoe has now won 4 medals in Rio, 3 gold back-to-back and a silver with a personal best swim.

Over at the Olympic Stadium, Paralympic debutant Liam Malone certainly did not appear at all phased by the occasion; the blade runner won gold in the Men’s 200m T44 and set a new Paralympic Record as he went. The gold will nicely complement the silver he won a few days ago in the Men’s 100m T44, a result that saw him come from nowhere to secure 2nd after a phenomenal charge over the last 30m.

Back at the pool, New Zealand’s youngest ever Paralympian four years ago at just 13, Nikita Howarth, won her first Paralympic medal in a stellar swim that earned bronze in the Women's 200m IM SM7.

In the background, behind the camera and lights, the rest of the Team competed to the absolute limit, picking up a swag of other results. Most particularly, the New Zealand Para-Sailing team has finished Day 1 of 5 days in the 3-Person Keelboat (Sonar) class at the top of the leaderboard, in second equal.

While at athletics, Paralympian William Stedman set a new Paralympic record of 5.35m on his first attempt, in the Men’s Long Jump T36, surpassing his personal best by 13cm. The record fell twice more as following competitors jumped further, with Stedman finishing 5th overall at his first Games.

Rio 2016 Performance Manager, Malcolm Humm, said: “Today has been incredible. It’s really hard to explain how the team is feeling at the moment, I mean – we are currently 7th on the medal table overall. Sophie Pascoe – just exceptional. Liam Malone – a new superstar has been born. Cameron Leslie – outstanding, as always. There are a couple of athletes that did not meet the expectations they had for themselves, or that maybe we had, but Mary Fisher in particular had an extremely tough and close race. Nikita Howarth, well it was her first attempt at a Paralympic medal and maybe there were a bit of nerves there, but she did great and it sets her up very well for her 200m IM in two days’.

He continues: “I’d also like to commend our Para-Sailors, who executed a perfect second race to come back from 8th in the first race. They certainly learnt a lot first time out and changed a few things and it worked extremely well, it’s very exciting. Will we meet our target of 18 medals, including 12 gold? I think we have a really great shot, especially at the 18 medals. 12 gold? Well, we are capable of it but its’s going to be tough, really tough. Our athletes are really going to have to push themselves over the next few days. Let’s see. I think we can do it. We’ve just go to keep pushing.”

Overall, as the hottest day of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games draws to a close, it’s fair to say the New Zealand Paralympic Games Team is turning up the heat! As competition closed, New Zealand had the same number of gold medals as Australia, taking it into 7th place behind the Aussies in 6th.

PARA-SWIMMING

Cameron Leslie

Leslie was the first Kiwi in the pool today. The current World Record holder took a commanding lead in the Men’s 150 Individual Medley SM4 heat to qualify fastest in 2:29.36. In the Final, he immediately took control to smash his own World Record by over 2 seconds, setting a new time of 2:23.12, taking New Zealand’s 5th GOLD medal of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Leslie finished ahead of Zhipeng Jin (China) and Jonas Larsen (Denmark). This is the third Paralympic Games in a row that Leslie has set the World Record in this event, dominating since the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games 8 years ago.

Leslie said: “I certainly felt a mixture of a lot of pain out there tonight, but I just had to get through the motions and remember the process. It is so easy for the wheels to fall off, if you focus on the pain.

We (Cameron and coach Simon Mayne) set a very challenging target time coming into this competition and we knew if we hit that time a gold medal would be on. I am so glad we did set such a challenging one because Jin (Chinese competitor) was pretty close behind in the end. I had no idea he was there, I was just focussed on making sure I did the things I could control, right.”

Mary Fisher

Fisher then qualified third fastest for the Women’s 50m Freestyle S11 heat in a time of 31.35. She went on into what turned out to be a brutal final, finishing 6th overall in a time of 31.80, half a second quicker than her heat. The race was incredibly close, with the lead switching multiple times. The top 6 finishers were barely over a second apart. The race was won by Guizhi Li in a World Record time of 30.73, followed by Maja Reichard (Sweden) and Maryna Piddubna (Ukraine). Reichard finished in the bronze medal position three days ago when Fisher smashed her competitors in the Women's 100m Backstroke S11, taking the World Record and a gold medal for New Zealand in a time of 1:17.96.

Fisher said: “It was definitely not the finish I was hoping for as I thought it was really possible to medal. My swim in the heat this morning went really well. I went really straight and did not touch the lane rope once, which is the first time for me. So the final tonight I was really hopeful and quite certain I could go faster but it just did not happen. The first half of the race was really good, but the second half I just did not quite have a hold of my technique to finish in the top three. It has been great to see Cam’s amazing swim tonight, and looking forward to watching Soph and Nikita swim shortly too. I now have a couple of days off before my last two events.”

Sophie Pascoe

Pascoe then returned to the pool for the fourth day in a row, this time in the Women’s 100m Butterfly S10. In the heat she set a new Paralympic Record of 1:04.37, 4 seconds ahead of the field. She then went on to win gold, becoming New Zealand’s most successful Paralympian of all time by matching Eve Rimmer’s record of 14 medals, but edging ahead of her on the colour – Pascoe winning a total of 9 gold, 5 silver and 0 bronze compared to Rimmer’s 8 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze. Today, Pascoe set another Paralympic Record of 1:02.65 and just missed breaking her own World Record of 1:02.60 set earlier in 2016. She annihilated Yi Chen (China) and Oliwia Jablonska (Poland) by more than 4 and 5 seconds respectively. The win continues her absolute domination of the pool her in Rio de Janeiro, making this her third GOLD medal in a row, to add to the SILVER she won earlier this week in a personal best time. Pascoe also had the honour of taking our New Zealand’s 200th Paralympic medal.

Pascoe said: “I have only just learnt tonight that I have won the most gold medals of any New Zealand Paralympian and that hasn’t quite sunk in yet. But I just go out there and give it everything. I challenge myself every day to take on the biggest challenge of all, taking on the world in the pool. That is what I did tonight. Now it is about focussing on the next one, the 100m Freestyle tomorrow.”

Nikita Howarth

The final New Zealand Paralympian in the pool to compete in the heats was Nikita Howarth in the Women’s 50m Butterfly S7. Currently ranked number 1 in world, Howarth went into the final as the fastest qualifier in a time of 35.40. She finished in a time of 35.97, five tenths of a second behind silver medallist Courtney Jordan and nine tenths behind gold medallist, Susannah Rodgers in first.

Howarth said: “Tonight it was a bit different than this morning’s heat. I did not stroke the last 15 metres very well and that is what caused the bronze medal. I am still really happy with bronze. The rest of the field was a lot older than me so I still have a lot of time to go, so I’m happy.”

Hamish McLean

New Zealand’s second youngest Paralympian, 16-year-old Hamish McLean, had an exceptional day in the pool today. He finished the heats of the Men’s 200m Individual Medley SM6 in 5th place, putting him 9th fastest overall with a time of 2:59.81. McLean missed making his first ever Paralympic Final by the skin of his teeth - just over a tenth of a second, and it was not a PB. The youngster was justifiably thrilled with his performance, as it puts him in good stead for preparations leading toward Tokyo 2020.

Tupou Neiufi

New Zealand’s youngest team member, 15-year-old Tupou Neiufi, made her Paralympic debut today. She competed in the Women’s 100m Freestyle S9, finishing 7th in 1:11.21. Neiufi did not qualify for the Finals, but certainly won the competition for the loudest kiwi supporters, with her mother Lose living up to the promise she made on TV1’s Seven Sharp recently, to cheer loudest for her daughter.

PARA-ATHLETICS

While over at the Olympic Stadium, Liam Malone once again showed the sporting world that he meant business by setting a Paralympics record winning the Men’s 200m T44 in 21.06. Malone showed his true power moving through the race to cross the line ahead of Hunter Woodhall (USA) in 21.12 and David Bahre (Germany) in 21.41. This will add to the silver medal won by Malone in the Men’s 100m T44 on day two in Rio when he accelerated at a phenomenal pace through in the last 30 metres to take second. Johnnie Peacock won gold equaling his Paralympic record of 10.81 set in the heats. Malone, who got his first set of blades following through donations from the New Zealand public, said:

“To be honest, I’m pretty wired at the moment. I can’t wait to get back to the Village and have some food! I’m on the bus with the team. I can’t believe I won. I mean, I wanted to win of course, and I definitely thought I could do it, especially after Friday (when he won silver) but it was really tough. Hunter was right there; he was fast. It was a challenge to keep ahead of him. He is young, only 19.”

Meanwhile, Paralympic debutant William Stedman set a Paralympic record of 5.35m on his first attempt in the Men’s Long Jump T36, surpassing his personal best by 13cm. Following Stedman’s jump, this record was then exceeded by two other Paralympians. Stedman finished in 5th place. Jacob Phillips ran his second final of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games finishing 8th in the Men’s 200m T35 final in a time of 29.10. This exceptional young man overcame cancer to reach the finals in Rio today.

PARA-SAILING

The 3-Person Keelboat (Sonar) class competition got underway for the first time today, with Andrew May, Rick Dodson and Chris Sharp taking to the water of Guanabara Bay. The team finished Race 1 in 8th position, but bounced back in Race 2 to finish in 1st position, taking them to 2nd overall on the leader board behind Australia and in front of Greece, Germany and Canada. Coming into the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Australia and Great Britain are considered New Zealand’s greatest rivals. Great Britain on the other hand had a poor day, finishing 11th overall. The New Zealand team has been training closely with Australia over the past few months, so the boys know them well.

Andrew Brown, Head Coach: “This is a long series with 10 races in total, so it is early days. In race one the guys got off to an average start and had to slowly work their way through the fleet to finish in 8th. We regrouped in between races and focussed on our routine. We got a good start in race two and closed in on the second placed boat at the top mark, they jived at the top mark and got a nice wind shift into first place and were never headed off after that. We now sit in second equal, but we are not reading anything into this placing at this early stage.”

WHAT’S ON TOMORROW

New Zealand flag-bearer Holly Robinson makes her first appearance at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games tomorrow in the Women's Javelin F46 and Sophie Pascoe will make her last appearance. The Para-Sailors will be out on the water again, with the Para-Shooters in action again too. Watch out for:

· Para-Swimmers: Sophie Pascoe; Nikita Howarth; Hamish McLean; Tupou Neiufi

· Para-Shooters: Michael Johnson; Jason Eales

· Para-Athletics: Holly Robinson

· Para-Sailors: Chris Sharp, Andrew May and Rick Dodson

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