-
Sophie Pascoe of New Zealand celebrates after winning gold in the Women's 200m Individual Medley - Source: Getty -
Related
New Zealand wasted no time claiming its first Paralympics medals, with swimmer Sophie Pascoe winning gold in the pool and cyclist Fiona Southorn claiming a bronze at the velodrome in London.
Pascoe smashed her own world record for S10 200m individual medley , taking half a second off the mark with 2m 28.73s in her morning heat and obliterating that with 2m 25.65s in the final, which she won by more than six seconds.
"This was quite unexpected," she said afterwards. "I went out this morning and got the time I wanted to hit, but had more in the tank for tonight.
"I would have been happy with a 27, but 25 - I'm really stoked! It comes down to doing all the hard yards before I came here and that's exactly what I came out to do.
Pascoe (19), who lost her lower left leg in a lawn mower accident as a toddler, is defending three Paralympic titles from Beijing four years ago - this is the first, and she has the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke later in the programme.
"It feels pretty good, but to be honest, it probably won't sink in until the end of the competition. My main focus now is the next five races - I came here for six and that was just one of them.
"I might treat myself with a dessert tonight."
"I'm quite a picky time planner and everything has to be perfect. The whole camp back at the village has my time plan - they know when to talk to me and when not to talk to me.
"That's the preparation I need. Tonight I'll get a good sleep and I've got the [50m freestyle] tomorrow."
At the Olympic velodrome, Southorn (44) qualified for the C5 individual pursuit bronze-medal ride-off with a time of 3m 52.695s and then defeated Briton Crystal Lane by almost seven seconds for the hardware six hours later.
"It's just absolutely incredible - I can't believe that in my third Olympics, I've finally got there," she said. "I seem to be getting faster with age, so bring on the next one."
The Waipu pedaller, missing a left hand, admitted she was struggling to hold on after expending so much energy in the morning session, where she took five seconds off her personal best.
"I was a bit possessed, because I really wanted that bronze medal," she said. "I went hard out this morning and had not quite as much left, but I still gave it my best shot this afternoon.
"I had seven seconds on [Lane] this morning, so it was just a matter of hunting her down and as soon as I could see her in my sights, just maintaining that vision and I knew I had her then."
Southorn was blown away by the venue that a month ago hosted cycling's elite - and British royalty - for the Olympic Games.
"It's just out of this world - it's got nothing on Beijing and Athens. The noise in here, the perfection of running the event and the television coverage has been absolutely incredible."
She planned to celebrate by catching up with family for a coffee or hot chocolate, before refocussing on her next event - the 500m.