Super Shelly takes silver as Petticlerc completes set

By Paul Carter

Shelly Woods produced a wonderful performance in the T54 1,500m to claim a silver medal behind Canadian phenomenon Chantal Petticlerc.

The Blackpool racer got her tactics exactly right on a very wet Beijing evening, and tracked the race leaders tightly around the first three laps of the Bird’s Nest stadium.

At the bell, she broke from the pack along with Petticlerc and Edith Hunkeler, and produced a wonderful sprint finish down the last 100m to snatch silver from the Swiss woman.

It was an impressive result for Woods, who was competing in an extremely high-class field.

There was no catching Petticlerc, however, who completed an amazing five golds from five events in Beijing.

Woods had thought she had won a silver earlier in the Games in the 5,000m, before the result was controversially overturned following a crash. She took bronze in the subsequent re-run.

“I can’t believe it. Silver in a 1500m.  I had some speed at the end, and Chantal had more, but I’m so happy with that,” she said.

“The pace was pretty slow, I was actually waiting for one of the Americans to come flying from the back and up the pace but it didn’t quite happen. I was up near the front and in the mix and just had to hold my own in the pack and keep that good position and try not to get boxed in. And I did it! It was great.”