Great Britain’s Aled Davies soaked up the glory of a third Paralympic gold after being drenched as he successfully defended his F63 shot put title in the torrential rain of Tokyo.
The 30-year-old, who also claimed a discus win at London 2012, topped the podium at the Olympic Stadium after triumphing with a throw of 15.33 metres.
Victory for the Welshman – ahead of Iran’s Sajad Mohammadian and Faisal Sorour of Kuwait – prompted a roar of delight amid animated celebrations.
🎵What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again…🎵@AledDavies2012🥇#ImpossibleToIgnore ☔️ pic.twitter.com/36DHBUkJEh — ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 4, 2021
“It’s surreal, there has been so much hard work to get here,” he said.
“It’s tough to win medals, so you’ve got to appreciate them when they come, so that’s why I was soaking it all in at the end.
“The conditions were great up until a few days ago, which is a shame because I was ready to deliver a big performance, but it doesn’t matter now, I’m going home with the colour of medal I came for.”
British wheelchair tennis pair Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley won silver after being outclassed by Holland’s Diede De Groot and Aniek Van Koot in the women’s doubles final.
It’s silver for @Jordanne_Whiley and @lucy_shuker! London 🥉Rio 🥉Tokyo 🥈👏👏 Wonderful from these two.#ImpossibleToIgnore pic.twitter.com/xsQ9wJozS2 — ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 4, 2021
Shuker and Whiley went down in straight sets in just over an hour against the top seeds at Ariake Tennis Park, losing 6-0 6-1.
Despite Saturday’s comprehensive defeat, second place on the podium was an upgrade for the GB duo, who claimed bronze at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Van Koot and De Groot were on opposite sides of the net for the gold medal match in Brazil five years ago, with the former coming out on top alongside Jiske Griffioen, while the latter was partnered by Marjolein Buis.
They combined to devastating effect this time around as second seeds Shuker and Whiley were unable to gain a foothold in a match which swiftly became a formality.
De Groot had already claimed the singles title in Japan following Friday’s victory over home favourite Yui Kamiji while for Van Koot, the win was revenge after losing out on individual bronze to Whiley.
Later on Saturday, Gordon Reid won the all-British bronze medal singles match against doubles partner Alfie Hewett.
The duo were left devastated on Friday after suffering a second successive doubles final defeat to French pair Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer.
Rio champion Reid had beaten Hewett in the singles final five years ago and history was repeated – albeit with less at stake – as the Scotsman edged a tight encounter 6-4 3-6 7-5 in two hours and 22 minutes to secure another trip to the podium.
🥉 @GordonReid91 wins a battle of the Brits to claim #Paralympics bronze 🙌#ParalympicsGB #ImpossibleToIgnore pic.twitter.com/DVBoFQmjjP — LTA (@the_LTA) September 4, 2021
Elsewhere, Daniel Bethell won Great Britain’s first Paralympic badminton medal but had to settle for silver following defeat in the SL3 final to India’s Pramod Bhagat.
Bethell, who has cerebral palsy, was beaten 2-0 by the top seed at Yoyogi National Stadium, losing 21-14 21-17.
The 25-year-old had guaranteed a podium place in a sport which is making its Games debut by overcoming another Indian player, Manoj Sarkar 21-8 21-10 in the semi-finals.
Compatriot Krysten Coombs suffered a 2-0 last-four loss to second seed Krishna Nagar in the SH6 class and will play Brazilian Vitor Goncalves Tavares for bronze on Sunday.
Historic silver. 👏 Our first ever Paralympic badminton medal.@Dannyb_1996, you did us proud 🥈#ImpossibleToIgnore #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/nEeFdUtX7l — ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 4, 2021
World number one Amy Truesdale fell short in her quest for Great Britain’s maiden taekwondo gold.
A comprehensive semi-final defeat to Uzbekistan’s Guljonoy Naimova ended the 32-year-old’s dreams of topping the podium in the K44 +58 kg category.
But the Chester-born top seed – a two-time world champion – recovered to win bronze by beating Iranian Rayeheh Shahab 41-31.
Her medal in the Korean martial art, which has been included in the Paralympics for the first time, adds to the K44 -58kg silver won by team-mate Beth Munro on Friday.
