Pascoe strikes gold in dominant performance in Rio

Paralympics star Sophie Pascoe has grabbed gold on day three of action at the Paralympics pool in Rio today.

She claimed the gold medal in the women’s 100m backstroke S10, reclaiming the title she won at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, before placing second at London behind Canada’s Summer Mortimer.

There was no doubting her class with a powerful effort in the heat where she topped qualifiers by more than a second. She pushed to an immediate lead in the final, turning nearly two lengths clear and dominated throughout to win in 1:07.23, a fraction faster than her morning heat.

She finished over a second clear of Bianca Pap (HUN) and Alice Tai (GBR).

“It was pretty tough in the pool tonight. I went out in the first 50m pretty much towards race plan and then the last 50m was hard, and they came back in the last 25. It was just about guts and digging deep," Pascoe said.

"Tonight was about coming out and getting the gold medal and that is exactly what I have done. It has been eight years since I had this gold in my hands so great to finally have this back and to be able to share this moment with family and support staff that have been along the journey every step of the way.”

Pascoe’s victory follows her silver medal in the 50m freestyle on day two, which proved an emotional moment for Pascoe after the recent passing of her friend and training partner, Hayley Edmond, the former North Shore and New Zealand representative.

The Cantabrian has now won seven Paralympics gold medals and today was her 13^th medal overall.

Teammate Mary Fisher had to settle for fourth today in the women’s 400m freestyle S11 after a strong performance. Coming in as the fourth qualifier, she pushed hard in a three-way battle for the bronze, before China’s Qing Xie sprinted home for the last spot on the podium.

The gold was won by Liesette Bruisma (NED) who managed to withstand a wayward course setting and a late charge from Cecilia Camellini.

Earlier 16-year-old Wanaka swimmer Hamish McLean clocked 34:81s in heats of the 50m freestyle S6, to be 19^th overall.

Pascoe is back in the pool tomorrow in her favoured 200m individual medley, the event that she won the gold medal at both Beijing and London Paralympics as well as the IPC World Championship in Glasgow last year. Jesse Reynolds is also in action tomorrow in the men's 200m individual medley SM9.

The Paralympics swimming action is live on Duke Channel.

CAPTION: Sophie Pascoe in action. Photo credit: BW Media

Rio 2016 Paralympic