Kinghorn and Lyle win bronze for Great Britain
Sammi Kinghorn and Maria Lyle added two bronze medals for Great Britain (GB) on day six of the World Para Athletics Championships at London Stadium. GB are now third in the medal table after day six with 22 medals in total, including 11 golds.
In a strong T53 400m field, Sammi Kinghorn (pictured above left) was involved in a four-way dash for the gold in the home straight, eventually finishing third behind Hongzhuan Zhou, who stormed home in a championship record of 55.22s, and Chelsea McClammer of the United States, who claimed silver.
Kinghorn won by the smallest margins, beating Australian Angela Ballard (pictured above right) by 0.02 seconds. She said:
"Watching that board come up and I felt like it took ages to show third! There’s no better feeling than getting a medal, especially after you’ve had to work so hard for it.
“I qualified fourth and was ready to accept coming fourth in the final, in Rio I came sixth and would have been happy with anything higher than sixth. I had no idea I came third, and I can’t believe it.”
Teenager, Maria Lyle (pictured above) repeated her double bronze achievement from Rio 2016 by finishing third in the T35 100m on Wednesday. Lyle’s second podium finish of the competition is testament to her talent and ability, especially as her preparations have been hampered by injury. Maria said:
“I wasn’t expecting it [two medals]! I was preparing myself mentally that I might not be able to run – to share a podium with fantastic athletes is a pleasure.
“The cheer any Brit gets is so loud, it doesn’t matter how small the crowd is, the cheer is exactly the same. You love so much love and support from the British crowd - they'rel ike no other."
Elsewhere, Richard Chiassaro eased through his T54 400m heat in second place to qualify for Friday’s final. Unfortunately fellow Brit Nathan Maguire couldn't join him, he missed out on making the 400m final after finishing third in his heat.
Earlier in the night, Zac Shaw snatched victory in the T12 200m semi-final from South African Hilton Langenhoven. Shaw flew out of the blocks before Langenhoven moved ahead on the finishing straight, only for Shaw to find an extra gear and dip over the line first.
Another British personal best went to Rhys Jones, who finished second in his T37 100m heat to qualify for tomorrow’s final.
Visit the Paralympics website for a full break down of day six and day seven preview.
Visit World Para Athletics Championships website for all the latest news, competition schedule and ticket information. View the BBC Sport World Para Athletics Championships medal table.
Photo credit: PA and Getty Images
