Peacock powers to 100m record on golden GB day
GREAT Britain’s Jonnie Peacock last night broke the Paralympic Games 100m record to beat South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius to the T44 gold.
The 19-year-old produced a sensationally powerful start before significantly extending his lead in the race’s final 30m to secure a new record of 10.90 seconds and add greater misery to the South African sprinter whose dying hopes of an individual gold medal come in the 400m after finishing only fourth.
“It was an unbelievable race,” Pistorius said. “I was hoping to make the top three. We just witnessed one of the great performances from Jonnie Peacock.
“He stepped up to the plate – we witnessed one of the great Paralympic performances.
“The Paralympians are household names now and it makes me proud. The 100m has always been tough for me – I’ve always been better at the longer distances.”
That Pistorius was so much more graceful in defeat was telling after previously publicly criticising the length of Alan Oliviera’s blades following his loss to the Brazilian in the 200m final, even if he apologised for his comments thereafter. In Peacock’s performance there was an air of supremacy and the British sprinter even suggested that he felt he was capable of more.
“This is absolutely amazing,” he said. “I’d like to have run a little bit quicker, but I did enough to hold on.”
It was overall a successful day for British Paralympics as wheelchair racers David Weir and Hannah Cockroft respectively added further golds in the T54 800m and the T34 200m to supplement the three they had already won. Weir could on Sunday win his fourth of the Games while 100m medallist Cockroft secured her second in a Paralympic record of 31.90 seconds.
Britain’s success continued with the cyclist Sarah Storey’s fourth gold of the Games, and with her now level with Dave Roberts’s Baroness Grey Thompson’s 11 Paralympic medal haul, the entire team’s target of a total of 103 has been already been achieved.
The sailer Helena Lucas finished first to take gold in the 2.4mR class while the 15-year-old swimmer Josef Craig set a new world record of 42.81 seconds to win gold in the S7 400m freestyle final before instantly targeting greater future success in the 2016 Games.
“I was quite shocked when I looked around and saw the time,” he said. “I wanted to start [my career] in Rio [2014], but I now want to go there and smash that [world record] again.”
TODAY AT THE GAMES
Athletics
■ Sophia Warner competes in the women’s 100m T35 final (7.33pm)
■ Rhiannon Henley of Wales is in action in the 200m individual medley SM13 final (8.24pm)
■ 19-year-old Briton Kyron Duke will hope to secure a medal in the Men’s Javelin Throw- F40 at the Olympic Stadium (10.03am)
■ Richard Whitehead looks to shine in the 100m (9pm)
Swimming
■ Jim Anderson participates in the 50m freestyle (6.51pm)
■ Sascha Kindred will be seeking a medal in the 50m butterfly (6.23pm)
Road Cycling
■ Rachel Moss and Karen Drake are amongst the competitors in the women’s handcycling road race at Brands Hatch (10.30am)
Discus
■ Great Britain’s Josie Pearson goes for gold in the women’s final (10am)
Wheelchair Fencing
■ Great Britain face Hong Kong in the women’s team quarter-finals (11am)
Men’s 7-a-side Football
■ Great Britain meet Argentina for a place in the final