Whiston wins gold in thrilling final with double podium finish for Great Britain

Brock Whiston was delighted after clinching her first Paralympic gold medal in a race she never thought she could win.

After the disappointment she felt following her 100m Breaststroke SB8 final – not with her silver medal but with the time she swam – Whiston had a point to prove this time around.

She wasn’t the only British athlete to feature in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM8 final as she lined up alongside teammate, Alice Tai, who was actually the race leader for the majority of the 200 metres.

Tai went out strong from the off and opened up a lead, knowing that the word record holder, Whiston, and the Neutral Para Athlete, Viktoriia Ishchiulova, would be stronger towards the latter stages.

She wasn’t wrong, as both athletes charged down the final 50 metres to set up a close finish with less than a second separating the top three.

It was Whiston who timed her race to perfection and touched the wall first in a time of 2:40.37 to win her second medal of the Games – but this time it was gold.

Had something to prove to myself

But Tai had done enough to stay ahead of the reigning Paralympic champion, Jessica Long, and within the medal places to earn a bronze, meaning there would be two GB athletes on the podium.

The pair were split by Ishchiulova, who finished in second place just 0.28 behind Whiston and only 0.64 ahead of Tai.

After winning her first Paralympic gold, Whiston said: “I had something to prove to myself and I did it.

“I mean, to beat the great Jess Long, she’s won it four years in a row, I honestly think it’s thanks to everyone in my support network.

“I have quite a unique set up, I only see my coach once a week so he sends me all of my sets and then my mum times me on the side of the pool at training, so it’s unique but I’m so happy.

“I was quite worried because in 2019 when I raced Alice, I overtook her on the breaststroke, but this time I couldn’t see her so I just had to swim my race and just go for it and I did, so I’m really happy.

“I never thought I could win it. I just had to go in and swim my race and I said to my coach that if I do faster than this morning and I win any sort of medal it’ll be an achievement so I’m buzzing.”