Josie Pearson wins GB’s 32nd Paralympic gold
Josie Pearson broke her neck in a car accident when she was 17, but that did not stop her from winning a gold medal in the discus today.
(Pictures from Channel 4)
Her win put Paralympics GB on 32 gold medals, one more than third-placed Russia, with China in the lead.
“I don’t think it’s going to quite sink in, I’m never going to forget this in my life,” she told Channel 4.
Pearson, who is 26 and lives in Hay-on-Wye, only started throwing 18 months ago after being told she had to give up wheelchair racing because of the risk of injury. But today at the Olympic Stadium she set three new world records.
Records
She launched the disc out to 6.38, 6.54 and then 6.58m with her first three throws of the competition, extending the F51 record on each occasion.
Her points score of 1122 was 242 clear of the rest of the field, with all six of her throws good enough to win gold.
Four years ago, Pearson became the first woman to represent ParalympicsGB at wheelchair rugby.
Her gold follows a bronze for Rachel Morris in the H1-3 hand-cycling road race at Brands Hatch. She and fellow GB cyclist Karen Darke held hands when they crossed the finish line because they wanted to share the bronze, but Morris was awarded the medal because her front wheel crossed the line first.
In July, Morris talked to Channel 4 News about the accident she endured while training near her Surrey home. Just weeks before the Paralympics, she was hit by a car, injuring her and destroying her bike.
