The New Zealand Paralympic Team have started day six of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in style – a silver medal, huge personal best and qualification for two finals.
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 this morning (BRT). 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 (GRT) with a world record throw of 43.01m
The Kiwi in the pool was 16-year-old Hamish 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. Yesterday’s bronze medallist Nikita Howarth was again in the pool in the Women’s 200m IM SM7 and took a commanding lead in her heat to qualify fastest for the final in a time of 2:58.82, 10 seconds faster than her rival Courtney Jordan (USA). Sophie Pascoe was in the pool for her final heat today, Women’s 100m Freestyle S10. She won her heat and qualified second fastest behind Aurelie Rivard (Canada) who set a new Paralympic record of 59.89. The New Zealand Team’s youngest Paralympian Tupou Neiufi was the final Kiwi contesting heats today finishing 5th in the Women’s 50m Freestyle S9 in a time of 31.37, not qualifying for her final.
The Sonar Para-Sailing crew of Rick Dodson, Chris Sharp and Andrew May had two races scheduled today, however they are currently postponed until tomorrow due to lack of wind. They will hope to get on the water tomorrow to continue their success of yesterday placing 8th and 1st in race 1 and 2 respectively.
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. 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.
Kiwis in action later today include:
|
Paralympian |
Para-Sport |
Final |
Event |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hamish McLean |
Para-Swimming |
08:30 |
Men’s 400m Freestyle S6 |
|
Nikita Howarth |
Para-Swimming |
09:01 |
Women’s 200m IM SM7 |
|
Sophie Pascoe |
Para-Swimming |
09:16 |
Women’s 100m Freestyle S10 |
|
Chris Sharp/Andrew May/Richard Dodson |
Para-Sailing |
Race 3/4 – Postponed until tomorrow |
Sonar (10 races in 5 days + medal race) |
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 https://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.
