On little sleep, NZ sprinter snares silver

Fatigue got the better of world champion Kiwi sprinter Danielle Aitchison in the final dash to the finish line of the Stade de France, and yet she still hung on for a silver medal – New Zealand’s third podium finish at the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Para cyclist Anna Taylor had opened New Zealand’s medal account at these Paralympics on Saturday morning, winning silver in the C4 3000m individual pursuit.
And her cycling team-mate and friend Nicole Murray this morning claimed New Zealand’s third medal in Paris, a bronze in the C5 3000m individual pursuit, in her fastest-ever time over the distance.
Aitchison admitted to mixed emotions after the third Paralympic medal of her career; one she seriously thought could complete her set. After showing brilliant form in her heat of the T36 200m – in which she’d slowed to a canter in the last 50m, yet still set a new Paralympic record – the 23-year-old Waikato athlete knew she had a genuine shot at clinching her first Paralympic gold medal in the final.
But she’d had a late night after the heat, which was the final event of Saturday night’s track and field programme, and didn’t get to sleep until the wee small hours of Sunday morning – only to be back at the Stade de France track bright and early the same day to race the final.
“I was very tired. I just got very fatigued for the last [five] metres… I definitely had it in me to get the gold,” she said immediately after clocking 27.64s, just 0.14s behind her long-time Chinese rival, Shi Yiting. It was a carbon copy of the result in Tokyo three years ago, where Aitchison also won silver to Shi’s gold.
Aitchison, who has cerebral palsy and deafness in both ears, was the first Kiwi track and field athlete to compete at these Games and surprised herself setting a Paralympic record of of 28.09s as she eased off in her heat. She powered out of the blocks in her 200m final, but the Chinese sprinting star held a slender lead as they entered the home straight, and managed to hold on right to the finish – stealing the Paralympic record back off Aitchison in the process.
“It was definitely a hard race. I felt coming out of the blocks pretty strong, and on the front straight just going neck-to-neck with Shi Yiting, it was a serious race,” Aitchison said. “But the time was great, so it was good.”
Shi’s winning time (27.50s) was just shy of the world record of 27.47s, which Aitchison set at the world Para athletics championships in Kobe, Japan, back in May.
An exhausted Shi – who pulled off a rare Paralympic threepeat in the T36 200m – clung onto Aitchison for an impossibly long time after last night’s race was over, then fell and limped away from the track. Barring an injury, the pair are certain to renew their rivalry in the 100m sprint in a few days’ time.
Aitchison says she has “fight and determination” to come back on Wednesday night (NZ time) for the 100m – in which she won bronze in Tokyo.
She’s taken massive strides ahead since the Tokyo Paralympic Games, after making dramatic changes to her running technique which helped her claim her first world crown in the 200m at the 2023 world champs.
At this year’s world champs, she had to go through a stressful review of her classification – concerned she would be moved into a different class and out of medal contention – but still successfully defended her world title.
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Nicole Murray is riding faster than ever before at these Paralympics – setting personal best times in both of her events so far. So her first-ever Paralympic medal was well-deserved.
On the opening day of the Games, Murray set a New Zealand record in her qualifying ride of the C4-5 500m time trial in a time of 37.367s, and was fractionally outside that in the final, finishing fifth (one place better than she did in Tokyo).
In Sunday night’s C5 3000m individual pursuit qualifier, she posted a blistering 3m 37.599s ­– well inside her previous personal best of 3m 40.29s. It wasn’t fast enough to get her into the ride-off for gold – which was an all-French affair – but with the third-fastest time, she was still riding for a medal, against Italian Claudia Cretti.
But in the end, the bronze was never in doubt for the Kiwi rider (a silver medallist in this year’s world champs) as she almost lapped the Italian in setting a new personal best of 3m 36.206s.
Murray said: “I’m over the moon. This is my first Paralympic medal it feels amazing, I’m glad I can honour the team and all the people around me and all the work they’ve put into me. It is cool to share that feeling with them.”
Frustrated to have left her prosthetic at the Paralympic Village for her qualification she added: “It definitely cost me time at the start of the race but the team rallied and got the prosthetic for me for the final. I rode the final a lot smoother and a lot more consistently.”  
These are Murray’s second Paralympics, making her debut in Tokyo, with cycling team-mate Anna Taylor.
Taylor’s first Paralympic medal in the C4 individual pursuit earlier in the weekend came after she’d sliced more than 6s off her national record in qualifying. After a long stretch of illnesses and operations, Taylor was grateful to be in Paris. “It’s unreal, like living a dream,” Taylor said afterwards.
It was a tough ask for Para shooter Neelam O’Neill to compete in two different events on consecutive days.
The Whangarei-raised Paralympic debutant was 10th in the women’s 10m air pistol SH1 on Saturday, just two places short of making the final. And returning to competition on Sunday in the mixed 10m air rifle prone, she finished up 21st in qualifying (fellow Kiwi Greg Reid was 31st).
“My preparation for today was a little bit difficult because my body was so fatigued from yesterday. I was feeling quite confident going in but unfortunately, I didn’t shoot as expected,” O’Neill said.
“Having said that, I’m proud of how I shot because I maintained my consistency throughout.”
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In other Kiwi wāhine performances in Paris, teenage swimmer Gabby Smith had a memorable Paralympic debut, finishing seventh in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB9 final.
Tupou Neiufi didn’t get to defend her Tokyo gold in the 100m backstroke S8 – failing to qualify for the final after fading to fifth in her heat on Sunday. She will swim again in the 50m freestyle S8 later this week.
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And in unexpected, but expectant, news: British archer Jodie Grinham because the first pregnant Paralympian to win a medal, the seven months’ pregnant athlete claiming bronze in the individual compound. The baby, apparently, never stopped kicking throughout the competition.