More medal delight for ParalympicsGB - Days 4-5 at the Games

Days four and five weren't without drama at the Paralympic Games in Paris with tightly contested finals and even a medal upgrade, here's how it all unfolded:

Day four

Day four saw Jonnie Peacock (Dan Pfaff / Benke Blomkvist, Charnwood) line up for his fourth Paralympic Games in the men's T64 100m. Gaining an auto-qualifying spot in his heat with 10.93, Jonnie qualified fifth fastest. In the final it took a Paralympic record to finish on top of the podium with Guity Guity from Costa Rica taking the title in 10.65, whilst GB's Peacock finished in fifth spot with 10.91. Speaking after his race, he said:

“The first 60 metres gave me confidence, I really felt strong. I am just lacking that bit of top speed. And that’s race sharpness, that is something I’ve got to work on. But I am super proud to be a part of it. It is a great advert for para sport."

In a hotly contested men's T54 1500m, Kirkby AC's Nathan Maguire (Ste Hoskins) booked his place in his second final of the week. Having already finished fourth in the 400m final, Maguire had his eyes set on the top five spots to gain that automatic qualification, which he achieved - finishing in third with 2:57.41. Reflecting on the race, Nathan exclaimed:

“I knew that was going to be a really stacked heat. It was not a rapid time but it wasn’t slow. The field is so strong that we can all do world record pace, so it is always going to be a quick one. Before the race, my coach said make sure you are in third place with 600m to go, well I thought I’d hedge by bets and make sure I was in third for the entire race just to make sure I qualified!

The second heat featured two Englishmen in David Weir (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) and Daniel Sidbury (Christine Parsloe, Sutton & District), but both finished outside of the qualification spots and did not advance.

Day five

Day five was all about the wheelchair racing as Scotland's Sammi Kinghorn (Rodger Harkins, Red Star) secured her second silver of the Games in the women's T54 1500m final in a time of 3:16.01. In the same final, Eden Rainbow-Cooper (Arno Mul, Red Velvet Racing) overcame the disappointment of a collision earlier in the week to finish in seventh place with 3:22.09. Eden will also contend the marathon later this week. Speaking on her first Paralympics she said: “I’m really happy with it. To just finish the race for me was a big one and I’m happy with how I performed.

“1500m is not my strongest event so couldn’t really ask for much more. It’s been very, very difficult coming into my first Paralympic Games, having a crash and then having an incident yesterday in the heat. My head was a bit all over the place so coming in here trying to calm it down was difficult, but I think that I did the best I could.”

It was then the turn of Nathan Maguire to take on the 1500m final. It was a fantastically competitive field, and after overtaking two competitors in the final stages, it was a close battle for the bronze medal. Unfortunately just edged out, Maguire finished in fifth place with 2:53.71.

Day five also saw dramatic news surrounding the men's T12 100m as Zac Shaw (Leon Baptiste, Cleethorpes) was upgraded to the bronze medal following an investigation into the eligibility of the Turkish athlete, Serkan Yildirim. The outcome saw Yildirim disqualified from the event, meaning Shaw was able to advance into the bronze medal spot.

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