British athletes strike gold

Great Britain’s athletes picked up four golds at the Paralympic World Cup in a glorious day under the sunshine at Manchester’s Regional Athletics Arena.

Wheelchair racer David Weir led the way for GB, first taking silver in the T54 800m behind Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, before reversing the positions to power home in the 1500m.

“It feels good to win two medals and get the cobwebs out after Beijing. I’ve had five months out so I’m pretty pleased with my performance”, said Weir.

Ben Rushgrove, who two years ago smashed the world record in the T36 200m, set a championship record in the same stadium on his way to gold in the 100m.

“I’m a bit disappointed with the time if I’m honest. It was a good run but it could have been a better run”, he said.

“Every time I go out I just try to push the boundaries a little bit further”, he added.

Elsewhere on the track, Paralympic silver medallist Libby Clegg won gold in the women’s T12 100m, but was unable to repeat the performance in the 200m, finishing with a bronze.

On the field, Daniel West won gold in the F54-57 shot put.

Despite the strong British contingent, the man whom most had come to see was South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius.

Competing in his first races since a serious boating accident in February, Pistorius showed signs of rustiness. In the T44 100m, he had to produce a blistering final 20m to snatch victory on the line from rival and rising US star Jerome Singleton by three hundredths of a second.

Things were more straightforward in the 400m, his preferred event, though his time of 50.28 was way outside his personal best of 46.25.

“The 100m was always going to be a tight race and it was always going to be a matter of catch-up because Jerome Singleton is very fast in the first 30m,” he said.

“My time in the 400m was shocking – it was the worst time I’ve run in about three and a half years, but I know I wasn’t running hard and can run a lot better.”

Despite the positives of the event, the day ended on a sad note for former Paralympic champion and world record holder Danny Crates, who pulled a hamstring in the T46 800m, his first international appearance since having to withdraw from Beijing through injury.

It was the latest in a line of injury problems and setbacks for Crates, who earlier this year had his funding cut and then partially restored by UK Athletics, just two months after being given the honour of being Great Britain’s flag-bearer in Beijing.

The 36-year-old insisted that despite the injury, he would not be forced into retirement and would continue to try and prove his fitness.