Russell wins bronze for ParalympicsGB on day nine

September 17, 2016

Hannah Russell won her second medal for ParalympicsGB on day nine of the Rio 2016 Paralympics Games.

It was the first of two medals for ParalympicsGB in the day nine finals. The Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay (34 points) quartet also won gold in the closing event of the session.

It’s S13 100m freestyle #bronze for @HRussell_96!#Supercharge ? pic.twitter.com/X4LTDzqok4
— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 16, 2016

The Woking SC swimmer was the fastest qualifier in the heats, and she went out fast again in the final. She led the race for the first 75m, but there were a number of athletes hot on her heels. Russell was just eight hundredths of a second over her qualifying time, but the 20-year-old was pipped to the post by Rebecca Myers of the USA and Anna Stetsenko of Ukraine. She touched in 1:00.07 to take bronze.

Russell is the world record holder in the 100m Backstroke and Rio is her second Paralympic Games. She won a silver and two bronze at London 2012, and now has a gold and a bronze medal to add to her Paralympic tally.

She said: “I was hoping to go quicker but a bronze medal is a bronze medal and I should be happy with that.

“I’ve been told that my personal best would have won gold, it’s quite hard to hear.

“I have the 50m freestyle tomorrow which is one of my main events so I’m hoping to get a new personal best in that. That’s my biggest aim and if I do that, that’s my goal achieved.”

Confused about swimming classification? Check out the Lexi decoder video.

Millward and Slater finish outside the top three

Stephanie Millward, who set a new Paralympic record in the heats, went out strongly in the Women’s S8 50m Freestyle. The Corsham ASC swimmer dropped off pace in the final stages of the race and finished fifth in a time of 30.73.

Preston’s Steph Slater swam faster than her qualifying time to finish ahead of Millward, touching in 30.54 for fourth place. The 24-year-old was just one hundredth of a second away from a bronze medal.

The Men’s event was a very tight race. There was just over a second separating first and sixth place. Sunderland’s Josef Craig had qualified fifth fastest overall in the heats, and he finished in sixth place with a time of 27.27.

Rodgers misses out on fourth medal

Susie Rodgers of Beckenham SC was denied her fourth medal of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The 33-year-old was just twelve hundredths of a second behind China’s Yajing Huang in third. She touched in 1:12.92 for fourth place.

After a one-two in the 400m Freestyle on day seven, there was a lot of anticipation for Jonathan Fox and Mikey Jones in the S7 100m Freestyle. Fox was fastest qualifier going into the final, but he just couldn’t seem to find that extra gear. The swimmer from City of Manchester Aquatics finished in fifth place with 1:03.91.

For 400m Freestyle champion Mikey Jones, it was a very good swim. He was just outside of his personal best time by less than a tenth of a second. The Mt Kelly swimmer finished in sixth place with 1:04.69.