Nicholas Newman won South Africa’s eighth gold medal in the morning session of Athens Paralympic action at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday, while Natalie du Toit swam her second world record in the 200m individual medley at the Aquatic Centre.
Newman, competing in the F36 class for cerebral palsy, threw the javelin 38,09m for gold with his first throw, beating his previous best of 36,85m.
”It was between me and the Polish athlete, I knew that one of us would win and I had a feeling that it would be me. It’s my first medal and I hope I get another one,” said Newman.
Du Toit, who is a leg amputee, is well-placed for her third gold medal on Thursday night after she swam a world-record two minutes and 32,19 seconds in her morning heat.
”I never get an easy race in the morning session. However, I feel good,” said Du Toit.
”I’m going to try harder and be better in the evening session. I will try to do my best.”
Teboho steals Top Gun’s thunder
Teboho Mokgalagadi, with his hair dyed golden, stole the thunder from ”Top Gun” Fanie Lombaard with a Paralympic world-record gold-medal 100m sprint in his first-ever international competition at the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Wednesday night.
Mokgalagadi, a cerebral-palsy athlete who hails from Jagersfontein outside Bloemfontein, fell to his knees in elation after equalling his own record of 13,07 seconds, which he set in his heat on Tuesday night.
His gold, together with the discus gold won by Lombaard for one-leg amputees on Wednesday, brought the South African gold-medal tally to seven at the time — five of them from track and field, which launched South Africa to second behind China in athletics with three silver and one bronze.
”I just want to tell the people back home that I did this for them,” said an ecstatic Mokgalagadi. ”I have always dreamed that I could do this. I never lost my dream. I’m proud to be a South African.”
Mokgalagadi, a skinny athlete with an awkward gait, shows pure speed when he comes out of the blocks. He stunned his opposition over the final 50m.
”We still have another chance for gold in the 4x100m relay tomorrow [Thursday],” he said.
Lombaard’s ‘worst ever’ win
Lombaard followed up his world-record shot-put gold with a below-par 45,56m victory in the discus, claiming his ninth gold medal in three Paralympics. He has also won one silver and a bronze.
”That was my worst competition ever,” said Lombaard, who was fired up to beat 50m for the first time.
”If my coach, Doep du Plessis, was here, I’d be in real trouble. I just couldn’t find my rhythm and I found the circle really slow. I even changed my shoes to try to get more speed, but nothing helped.
”But you know what? Gold is gold and I’m going to celebrate.”
Lombaard said he was far from finished with the Paralympics. He has one more event left in Athens, the javelin on Friday.
Silver for SA
They are calling Scott Field, the visually impaired swimmer from Cape Town, the Silver Swimmer after he won his third consecutive Athens Paralympic silver medal at the Aquatic Centre.
Field was disappointed with his 55,36 seconds that trailed Russian Andrey Strokin’s 55,27 seconds.
Field made it clear that he desperately wanted the gold, especially as he holds the world record of 54,92 seconds that he set in Mar del Plata in 2002.
”I’m very disappointed,” he said. ”It was a bad swim. This was my best hope for gold. I wanted to go a lot faster than that, by at least a second. I was hoping for gold, but a silver is a silver.
”Andrey beat me twice in Sydney, so it would have been great to beat him. I’ve got the world record in this event and it’s a lot faster than we swam today.”
Silver flowed again for South Africa at the Equestrian Centre where Philippa Johnson finished a narrow second on Burgmans Benedict to Norway’s Cathrin Ann Lubbe on Zanko.
Johnson, who lives and trains in Belgium, claimed her first-ever Paralympic medal after producing a solid performance on her horse.
She was awarded 69,871% for the execution of her programme, against the 70,839% that went to gold for Lubbe.
Ernst van Dyk, the world-record holder in the 400m wheelchair sprint (47,05 seconds), struggled in the final after a gruelling day of racing — finishing fourth in 48,26 seconds with the gold going to Kenny van Weeghel (The Netherlands) in 47,45 seconds.
”I was tired out there,” he said after racing a 5 000m and 400m heat earlier in the day. ”The day’s racing took it out of me.”
Hilton Langenhoven, winner of the long-jump silver medal for the visually impaired with a superb 7,02m on Tuesday, finished fourth in the 100m B final in 11,40 seconds at Olympic Park.
David Roos (arm amputee) also finished fourth in the long jump.
Dominique Vogel (cerebral palsy) finished fourth in her 200m sprint final in 32,86 seconds and swimmer Tiaan du Plessis (Les Autes) was eighth in his 100m backstroke final. — Sapa
South African medal count on Wednesday night:
Eight gold: Natalie du Toit: 100m butterfly (1:07,69 world record), 100m freestyle (1:02,83
Paralympic record); Fanie Lombaard: shot put (13,52m world record), discus (45,56m); Malcolm Pringle: 800m (1:58,90 world record); Oscar Pistorius: 200m (21,97 seconds world record); Teboho Mokgalagadi: 100m (13,05 seconds world record); Nicholas Newman: javelin (38,09m).
Seven silver: Scott Field: 100m butterfly (1:01,75), 400m freestyle (4:30,19), 100m freestyle (55,36 seconds); Ernst van Dyk: 1 500m wheelchair (3:05,29); Nathan Meyer: 200m (22,96 seconds); Hilton Langenhoven: long jump (7,03m); Philippa Johnson: equestrian dressage (69,871%).
One bronze: Bev Mashinini: javelin (22,96m).