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day 3

Paralympic Breakfast: Ní Riain storms to another final while Grimes falls just short

Róisín Ní Riain secured her spot in the final with another PB after a 4:45.14 time in the S13 400 Freestyle.

IT IS ANOTHER busy day in Tokyo for Team Ireland as they look to build on a wonderful start. Welcome to the latest of our overnight updates from the Paralympic Games. 

The Irish Eye 

In Archery, Irish Paralympian Kerrie Leonard shot a season-best of 657 to finish 18th in the ranking round of the Women’s Individual Compound Open. The seeding for the head-to-head rounds is decided based on this event. The Meath native will return to action on Sunday morning at 02:25am Irish time against India’s Jyoti Jyoti.

At the Izu Velodrome, Richael Timothy secured her second personal best of the week and finished 10th place overall in the C1-3 500m Time Trial. 

Ronan Grimes clocked a 4:37.693 time in the C4 4000m Individual Pursuit to progress to the bronze medal match. However, despite bursting out early and leading for the first three-quarters of the race, the Galway native was just edged out by 1.394 seconds to the podium spot by Colombia’s Diego German Duenas.

ronan-grimes Casey B. Gibson / INPHO Casey B. Gibson / INPHO / INPHO

Róisín Ní Riain secured her spot in the final with another PB after a 4:45.14 time in the S13 400 Freestyle. The event is scheduled for later today at 11.43am.

Colin Judge’s Paralympic Games is at an end after going down 3-1 in the last 16 of the C3 table tennis singles against Russia’s Vladimir Toporkov at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym.

 Who else is making headlines? 

China’s Zhou Xia broke the world record and defended her gold in the women’s 100m T35 final. Her time of 13.00 seconds is a world record, beating the record time set by Australian Isis Holt in the heats.

Also on the track, Norway’s Salum Ageze Kashafali broke the Paralympic record in the heats of the 100m T12, with an outstanding time of 10.46 seconds.

 In an unwelcomed first, outdoor play at the wheelchair tennis was suspended due to extreme heat with temperatures of 31.2 degrees celsius recorded.

Picture of the day 

Ali

Powerlifting star Ali Jawad believes he “won a medal in life” by managing to compete at Tokyo 2020 and concedes his career could now be over unless he finds sustainable medical treatment for Crohn’s disease.

Rio 2016 silver medallist Jawad mounted a heroic effort just to be in Japan: shielding for three years, taking risks with medication and foregoing a stem cell trial featuring aggressive chemotherapy.

By his own admission, the 32-year-old arrived for the Games a shadow of his former self, having been debilitated by a lengthy fight against the inflammatory bowel condition.

“I’ve managed to take Crohn’s Disease to the very limits of what anyone’s been able to take it before and managed to survive and I’m here,” said the Lebanon-born athlete, who has born without legs and has been taking the steroid prednisolone for his ongoing condition.

“That for me is better than any medal I can have around my neck.”

 Your must-see Paralympic schedule for today

 In equestrian, Michael Murphy gets underway in the Grade I individual test at 8.00am. Kate Kerr Horan’s final is scheduled for 11.14am.

Róisín Ní Riain’s final is set for 11.34am the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. On the track, Greta Streimikyte’s 1500m event is scheduled for 2.03pm. 

-additional reporting by PA & Paralympics Ireland

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