Rio 2016: Late drama as Nicole Walters guides Melissa Reid to para-triathlon bronze
University of Bath-based Nicole Walters guided visually-impaired Melissa Reid to a dramatic PT5 bronze medal as para-triathlon made a successful debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
An excellent swim in the Praia de Copacabana and a strong ride put Reid and Walters firmly in medal contention after the first two stages of Sunday’s competition.
They lost ground on the leaders in the run and were overtaken by Elizabeth Baker and Jillian Petersen of the United States in the closing stages. Walters encouraged Reid to dig deep, though, and they regained third place in the last 100m as Baker stumbled and fell.
Walters, a Sports & Exercise Science graduate who still trains at the Sports Training Village, said: “I knew the Americans were fading so I was just shouting to Melissa, ‘come on, we can do this, we can get that medal’.
“It was incredible, the crowd was amazing, and I was really proud of Melissa to have got there at the end.”
Reid added: “The crowd right at the finish when we were in fourth place were just screaming and screaming. The last 100m, it was just ridiculous.”
Silver went to fellow Brits Alison Patrick and guide Hazel Smith, while Australia’s Katie Kelly and Michellie Jones took the gold.
Saturday saw former Team Bath swimmer David Hill finish tenth in the men’s PT4 competition. It was his second Paralympic appearance, having reached the 100m backstroke final at Athens 2004.
In the Olympic Stadium, 16-year-old athlete Polly Maton – who is coached by Colin Baross at the Sports Training Village – ran 13.09 to finish a fine fifth in Sunday’s T47 100m final.
That was a second final of her Paralympic Games debut for Maton, who was seventh in the T47 long jump on Thursday.
“It was a really enjoyable race,” she said. “It’s been a bit overwhelming but I came here mainly for experience and the Brazilian crowds have been amazing.”
Former University of Bath-based swimmer Stephanie Millward claimed her second medal of the week when she won bronze in Sunday’s 100m freestyle S8 final. She will be confident of adding to that tally when she contests the S8 100m backstroke, in which she is the reigning world-record holder.
There was disappointment for Sports Performance graduate Louise Hunt in the wheelchair tennis as she lost 6-1, 6–4 to American Dana Mathewson in the first round of the women’s singles.
“Gutted doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now,” said Hunt. “I left everything on the court and gave it my all, just sorry I couldn’t get the result.”
Monday sees Natural Sciences graduate and sailor Alexandra Rickham begin her bid to upgrade on London 2012 Paralympic bronze in the two-person SKUD class with Niki Birrell.
Wheelchair fencer Piers Gilliver will then be going for gold in the Category A epee on Tuesday. Gilliver, who trains at the University of Bath, goes into the competition rated number one in the world.
