Paralympics 2021 LIVE updates day 10 Curtis McGrath wins kayak gold Cyclists take on conditions in road race
1 of 2
Cyclist Alistair Donohue has finished fifth in the men’s C4-5 road race today overcoming two painful crashes early in the race to get back on the bike and move back up to the leaders.
France’s Kevin le Cunff won the race.
Donohue said he felt like speed skater Steven Bradbury as cyclists fell around him in his crash.
Alistair Donohue.Credit:Jeff Crow
He also emotionally dedicated his race to his friend Will who died two months ago.
“Look, I love racing. Today wasn’t my day. You can’t control it,†Donohue told Channel Seven.
“But I love racing. This is it.
“I spent the last lap fighting back tears. Because this race was for my mate, Will. He committed suicide two months ago. And I’ve been holding it together up until the games.
“I wanted to dedicate this one to him, and to my housemates back at home. This one is for Will. Now that it’s over I can let it out. It feels so good.
“I love bike racing. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. You can’t control crashes. It is a part of the sport, I love it. Today was so good, it was so hard, it is everything I love about racing.
“I think that Will would have been so proud of this race. I spent so many of my biscuits getting back on after the crashes. It is a race of attrition, and I knew that I was going to pay the price, but you have to be in it to win it.
“Two laps to go, I started camping, nothing you can do. But how good is racing? How good is this? This is living.â€
If you or anyone you know needs support call Lifeline on 131 114, or Beyond Blue’s coronavirus mental wellbeing support service on 1800 512 348.
Australia’s Dylan Littlehales has missed out on a medal by the smallest of margins in the men’s kayak singles 200m KL3.
Littlehales and Great Britain’s Robert Oliver hit the finish line locked together but Oliver managed to just get his nose in front to take bronze finishing in 41.268 seconds compared to Littlehales on 41.280 secs in fourth place.
Ukraine’s Serhil Yemelianov, the gold medallist from Rio, won the gold medal ahead of RPC’s Leonid Krylov.
Rachel McGrath, wife of gold medallist Curtis McGrath, has revealed the kayak star feared he would not get the chance to follow up his Rio gold medal this year as another COVID-19 outbreak hit Tokyo in the lead-up to the Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Rachel, who nervously cuddled a cushion while watching the final with the McGrath family, told Channel Seven they feared the Paralympics could have been cancelled if the outbreak became too overwhelming so Curtis was overjoyed to get to Tokyo and have his chance to compete.
Curtis McGrath competes in the men’s heats on Thursday. Credit:Getty
McGrath claimed his KL2 gold medal comfortably today.
“He was really focused,†Rachel McGrath told Channel Seven.
“Really grateful for the opportunity to go. There was a period of time when we were worried about the coronavirus increasing in Tokyo and there was a moment when we thought the Paralympics would not go ahead.
“We are so grateful and Curtis was so grateful and ready to race. When he got there he was so excited just to be there and to have the opportunity to go for another medal.â€
Tom Decent reports from the event:
Gold for Curtis McGrath! Goes back to back in the KL2. Finishes more than a second (1.077 seconds) ahead of Ukraine’s Mykola Syniuk.
Aussie supporters (mostly staff and athletes) are going off. Clinical performance.
Drew away in the final 100m in wet and miserable conditions here.
Australia’s Curtis McGrath has gone back to back winning his second-straight gold medal in the men’s 200m KL2 kayak sprint final.
McGrath pushed clear from the field mid-race and comfortably went over the line before pumping his fist in celebration.
He won the same event in Rio and now has a Tokyo gold to go with it.
Curtis McGrath competes in the men’s heats on Thursday. Credit:Getty
Australia’s Sarah Seipel has followed her bronze medal in Rio with a silver in Tokyo in the women’s 200m VL canoe sprint final.
Great Britain’s Emma Weeks won gold after breaking clear of the field, she was clearly faster than the field but Seipel showed great fight to keep ahead and stay in her lane to take the silver medal.
Australia’s Paige Greco gave her all at the finish line with both the Chinese and Swedish riders all finishing at once- one of them will drop to fourth and the other two will claim medals in the women’s C1-3 cycling road race.
Greco has claimed bronze, Sweden’s Anna Beck just beat her by a couple of millimetres to claim silver.
Japan’s Keiko Sugiura has won the gold comfortably after breaking clear in the last couple of kilometres.
Australia’s Paige Greco is in a three-woman chasing pack with one kilometre to go.
They are chasing Japan’s Keiko Sugiura who has broken away in wet and challenging conditions at Fuji speedway.
It’s a little confusing to watch as the men’s C4-5 race and women’s C1-3 race are on course at the same time with the men’s race halfway through and the women’s coming to a conclusion.
It looks like Greco could end up in a three-way battle for the silver and bronze medals as Sugiura looks too far gone.
Australian cyclist Alistair Donohoe has had his battles this morning in the men’s C4-5 road race after crashing once and having a couple of further slip-ups on a wet and slippery course at Fuji International Speedway.
But Donohoe has recovered to ride his way back into the lead group and sits in third place after 39.6 km.
In the women’s C1-3 road race, Australia’s Paige Greco is in second place after 26.4 km.
1 of 2
0 Response to "Paralympics 2021 LIVE updates day 10 Curtis McGrath wins kayak gold Cyclists take on conditions in road race"
Post a Comment