Blake rounds off impressive World Championships campaign with gold
University of Bath-based athlete Paul Blake rounded off his campaign at the International Paralympic Committee World Athletics Championships by striking gold in the T36 400m.
Blake added gold on Saturday to the silvers he had already won in the 800m and 1500m on his overseas debut.
It took the medal tally achieved by the University of Bath-based trio of Blake, Katrina Hart and Ben Rushgrove to eight of the 38 medals won by the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team.
It also meant that the three University of Bath-based athletes, who are all coached by Rob Ellchuk, won medals in every event in which they competed at the championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Blake said: “I’ve worked very hard for this and the group I’ve had around me has been great. My training partners Ben and Kat (Ben Rushgrove and Katrina Hart) have been awesome out here, and so has my coach, Rob (Rob Ellchuk). They’ve really kept me motivated.”
Ellchuk said: “We had nothing to lose by entering Paul for this event because he’d already run his two best events. I told him not to blow out for the first 200m but to stay with the guys and at 150m to give it everything he had left. He did, and it turned out he had a lot left. He’s fantastic and he’s really come of age on this trip.”
Roll of honour
Paul Blake
Gold – T36 400m
Silver – T36 800m
Silver – T36 1500m
Katrina Hart
Gold – T37 200m
Bronze – T37 100m
Bronze – T35-38 4×100m
Ben Rushgrove
Silver – T36 100m
Bronze – T36 200m
For further information please contact the TeamBath press office at Matchtight Limited on 01225 383518.
Posted: Monday 31 January 2011
