At the start of the 10th and final day of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the New Zealand Paralympic Team were busy on the water this morning (BRT) both in the pool and on the sea.
Paralympic debutant 16-year-old Hamish McLean competed in his final race of the Paralympics, Men’s 100 Freestyle S6 in a time of 1:15.30 placing 5th in his heat, but missing qualification for the final. McLean was a late call-up to the New Zealand Paralympic Games Team following re-allocation of another male slot back in May. He will be one to watch for the future.
The Sonar crew of Richard Dodson, Andrew May and Chris Sharp went into today’s final race focussed on the podium with only 5 points off Bronze and 6 off Silver, with 7 boats fighting for the last two podium positions. The Australian crew had secured gold yesterday after a very consistent regatta. Race 11 (today) saw the New Zealanders in 8th round the first mark however they then gained on downwind to take first place by the bottom mark. They held this position for most of the race until USA secured silver by overtaking them on the last upwind leg to pip them on the finish line by 1 second. This left the Kiwis in 3rd place until Canada overtook the French on the last short reach to the finish beating them by 1 second. This meant the New Zealanders were on equal points with the Canadian overall for 3rd, but lost on a count back finishing 4th overall. This is an outstanding result for the trio who went into the Rio 2016 Paralympics ranked 8th in the world.
Kiwis in action later today include:
|
Para-Athlete |
Sport |
Heat |
Final |
Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Emma Foy/Laura Thompson |
Para-Cycling |
n/a |
04:05 |
Women’s Road Race BVI |
|
Amanda Cameron/Hannah van Kampen |
Para-Cycling |
n/a |
04:05 |
Women’s Road Race BVI |
|
William Stedman |
Para-Athletics |
n/a |
10:19 |
Men’s 800m T36 |
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 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.
