Woods wins ‘second’ medal in re-run 5,000m final

By Paul Carter

A delighted Shelly Woods laid to rest the demons from the race that never was by winning a well-earned bronze medal in the second women’s T54 5,000m final.

Woods had won and been presented with silver in the original race, but was then controversially forced to hand back her medal after the outcome was declared void following a major crash.

“This one, no-one can take it off me,” she said. “The first time I was ecstatic, but this one’s for real.”

Second time around, the Blackpool racer again made sure of a position on the podium in an expectedly tense and tactical race.

She found herself in fourth or fifth position for much of the cat-and-mouse affair, and produced a strong sprint finish despite being boxed in the inside lane.

USA’s Amanda McGrory crossed the line first, while the original gold medallist, Diane Roy of Canada, took silver.

Woods said it had been a “crazy few days” since the original race, and said she had to try and deal with the emotions ahead of the re-run.

 “To get a medal in such a tactical race like that is a big jump for me,” she said.

“The only one who could have defeated me today was myself. It was down to my attitude and the best way sometimes is to laugh it off.

“I watched the replays on YouTube and saw the face of the guy who rang the bell. He looked so shocked and then the bell fell off and broke. It was just really funny.”

Woods can now focus on the 800m, 1,500m and the marathon.