Tokyo Paralympics LIVE: Aled Davies retains shot put title after Hannah Cockroft wins seventh career gold
Follow all the action from day 11 of the Tokyo Paralympic Games
Great Britain made a strong start to day 11 of the Tokyo Paralympics, winning more para-canoeing gold through Laura Sugar in the KL3 event and Charlotte Henshaw in the KL2, with Emma Wiggs taking silver following her own title on day 10. Stuart Wood won bronze in the 200m VL3 para-canoeing event.
Meanwhile, Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker came up short in their quest for wheelchair tennis doubles gold against the Netherlands, losing their final after Hannah Cockroft triumphed in the T34 800m for her seventh Paralympic title. Kare Adenegan won silver behind Cockroft. Men’s tennis doubles partners Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett faced off against one another in the singles bronze-medal match, with the former triumphing and refusing to celebrate.
Elsewhere, Dan Bethell lost his badminton SL3 singles final but claimed silver for Great Britain. Aled Sion Davies won a third Paralympic gold in the F63 shot put to retain his title, and Kadeena Cox came fourth in the women’s T38 400m final.
On day 10, GB won three gold medals and passed the 100-medal mark in Tokyo. Reid and Hewett came agonisingly close to winning their first Paralympics gold medal in the wheelchair tennis doubles but were defeated by France 7-5, 0-6, 7-6 (7-3) in a thrilling final. Owen Miller won a surprise gold in the men’s 1500m T20 on his Paralympics debut, then further success in the Olympic Stadium as Jonathan Broom-Edwards won gold in the men’s high jump T64 and Hannah Taunton claimed bronze in the women’s 1500m T20 in wet conditions in Tokyo. Elsewhere, Wiggs won ParalympicsGB’s first gold in the VL2 discipline of para-canoe, while teammate Jeanette Chippington claimed bronze in the same event.
Follow all the latest updates from Tokyo:
How Ellie Robinson handled “voyeuristic” mixed zone interview and brought media to tears
One of the defining moments of these Tokyo Games has been swimmer Ellie Robinson’s emotional speech to the media after missing out on a podium place in the 50m butterfly S6 final. Robinson, 20, discussed the “agony” she has experienced over the course of the past year as the Perthes’ disease in her right has worsened.
“Even though I didn’t win a medal I went out on my terms. I’m just so proud of myself for getting so far. This is a story of triumph not of defeat,” Robinson explained. “These are happy tears, because I’m so relieved and so proud.”
Tanni Grey-Thompson praised the young athlete on Channel 4 just before the start of the closing ceremony, saying: “Mixed zone interviews are difficult and voyeuristic. She handled it so well.”
Former Paralympic swimmer Marc Woods, who was one of the broadcasters witnessing Robinson’s powerful speech in person, added: “Everyone from Australia to NBC was in tears. And when she finished they stood up and applauded her.”
Tanni Grey-Thompson praises organisation of Tokyo Games in difficult circumstances
The Paralympics closing ceremony will be getting underway very shortly, and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has been giving her appraisal of a Games played without packed crowds under the cloud of COVID-19.
“They’ve done so well to put this event on and get all the athletes out here,” the 11-time gold medallist told Channel 4.
“I thought not having spectators would have been a massive issue. But the sporting stories have taken over.”
Coombs wins Britain’s second badminton medal and final one at Paralympics
Krysten Coombs took bronze in the men’s SH6 badminton singles earlier this morning to secure Paralympics GB’s final medal and their second in badminton on the sport’s debut.
Coombs was a game down against Brazil’s Vitor Goncalves Tavares but won the following two to take victory, and spoke of the effect he hope he success has on young viewers around the world.
“The 14 years of competing have been for this,” he said.
“I think the experience, the journey I’ve come to now get to the top of the level and compete at these Games and win a bronze medal, it’s a dream come true.
“I’d like to think I can inspire other kids with dwarfism at home that there is a journey and you can be successful with it.”
ParalympicsGB chief says team has “rewritten history books” in Tokyo
ParalympicsGB chef de mission Penny Briscoe says that British athletes have “rewritten the history books” in Tokyo this summer.
Despite a drop in total medals won since Rio 2016, the squad has still taken second-place in the standings by a comfortable distance and won medals in 18 of the 19 events they entered.
Briscoe told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It’s been an incredible Games for ParalympicsGB. We’re absolutely delighted with the performance of the team.
“It has been a monumental effort. It has been challenging, complex and incredibly demanding. Not only in the 12 days we’ve been competing but in the 18 months leading up to the Games.
“The medal total was always going to be difficult in terms of the return of Russian athletes. But for 18 out of 19 sports to deliver medal success was an absolutely phenomenal effort by the team.
“We’ve rewritten the history books out here in Tokyo.”
ParalympicsGB secure second in final medal standings
That final bronze medal in this morning’s men’s wheelchair basketball has taken the ParalympicsGB tally to a whopping 127, securing second-place in the overall standings. The British team is taking home 41 golds, 38 silvers, and 43 bronze medals after an extremely successful summer in Tokyo.
GB has now placed second in every Paralympic Games in the 21st century, except for London 2012, when the team finished up in third spot.
China meanwhile comfortably topped the tally charts which a staggering 93 golds and total of 200 medals, with the USA rounding-out the podium places in third.
Strong performances from the Netherlands and Ukraine have seen them place fifth and sixth respectively, while Azerbaijan made it into the top ten, ahead of the likes of Germany, France, and hosts Japan.
You can take a look at a full breakdown of the final medal table in the article below.
Cockcroft and Skinner “gutted” for very different reasons
Of course, among all of the glorious moments ParalympicsGB has experienced this summer, there have been a number of tough results to take, too.
Both Hannah Cockcroft and Zak Skinner were left “gutted” yesterday, but for very different reasons. Cockroft didn’t quite manage to beat her own world record despite taking a dominant victory in the T34 800m race, while Skinner missed out on a medal by two centimetres in the T13 long jump final.
Skinner said: “It just hurts. I just wasn’t able to manage it on the big stage. I’m going to use this to fuel the fire because I don’t ever want to feel like this again.”
“I’m absolutely gutted,” Cockcroft joked, meanwhile. “I was so close that to world record, I couldn’t have got closer if I’d tried.
“I’m really happy with gold but I’m obviously a bit frustrated I couldn’t quite squeeze under that time but to go close on a rainy day. I did that time in Switzerland on the fastest track in the world so to come here and replicate it, I’ve got to be proud.
Hannah Cockroft, Zak Skinner and the gradients of ‘gutted’ at the Tokyo Paralympics
Skinner missed out on a medal by two centimetres, while Cockroft secured her seventh title but came just short of breaking a world record
British wheelchair tennis faces difficult future after ‘horrible’ bronze medal match
Despite ParalympicsGB securing another couple of medals in wheelchair tennis yesterday afternoon, the men’s singles bronze medal match was an ordeal for team-mates and close friends Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett.
The pair, who both lost their respective semi-finals, battled over a gruelling three sets in the Tokyo heat before Reid eventually broke serve to take the final set just before the tie-break.
Reid has spent most of his time in Tokyo in self-isolation as a close contact of a Covid-19 case and Hewett’s very future in the sport is in doubt amid a classification row.
Hewett said: “We both said how much [we] hated that match.
“It was horrible. There wasn’t much we could say to each other at the net at the end, we understood where we were both at.”
You can read more about the consequences for the future of the sport in Jack Harle’s analysis below.
Reid and Hewett braced for perilous future after ‘horrible’ bronze medal match
The doubles pair face an uncertain future in the sport with Hewett involved in a classification row
Flag bearer named ahead of ParalympicsGB closing ceremony entrance
Boccia gold-medallist David Smith has will carry the Union Jack through the Japan National Stadium later this afternoon after the 32-year-old was handed the honour by ParalympicsGB chiefs.
The Eastleigh athlete retained the BC1 title he won in Rio by besting Chew Wei Lun of Malaysia 4-2, having lost the opening two sets.
Smith said afterwards: “I am proud to be the face of the athletes that are here, and also those who have already returned home.
“I have received so much support over these last 12 days, this honour is for every one of them – athletes, support staff and British fans alike.”
Boccia champion David Smith named flagbearer for closing ceremony
Smith retained his BC1 individual title on Wednesday to claim his fifth Paralympic medal.
Final medal secured by Paralympics GB as basketball history repeats itself
ParalympicsGB won their final medal of the Games earlier this morning as the men’s wheelchair basketball side secured bronze in a pulsating encounter against Spain in Tokyo.
The Brits ran out 65-58 winners in the end after a hard-fought contest in which player-coach Gaz Choudhry’s influence was key. The third-place finish matches the team’s achievement at Rio 2016.
“We didn’t come here to win bronze, we came to make the final but if people knew what we’d been through I think they may understand,” said Terry Bywater – who was part of the squads that also finished third in Athens, Beijing and Rio.
“Losing your head coach just a few days before we arrived was just crazy. It felt a constant uphill battle and this means a lot more than a bronze.
“Gaz knows basketball, he lives and dies for it. He’s been playing a long time and he’s got so much respect from all of us. What a job he did, he’s a legend.”
Final miracle medal for Great Britain as wheelchair basketball repeats Rio bronze
One more success to add to the collection as ParalympicsGB repeat the performance of five years ago in Brazil
Closing ceremony to round off Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Morning! Welcome to the final day of the Independent’s coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, as we bring you live updates from what is sure to be an elaborate closing ceremony at the Japan National Stadium.
So, stick around for all the action from the spectacular event, plus quotes and reaction from ParalympicsGB athletes after a stunning summer of success for the British squad.
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