British team celebrate a 'record' haul of over 100 medals

Published on Tuesday 16 September 2008 22:11

BRITAIN'S Paralympic athletes will tomorrow bring home a haul of more than 100 medals after ten days of competition in Beijing.

The 206-strong team Paralympic GB is preparing to celebrate during this evening's closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium after taking their medals tally to at least 102.

Team chiefs hailed one of the best performances "of all time" by a British paralympic team yesterday after the men's wheelchair basketball team took the overall medal haul to 100 after they won bronze, smashing the pre-Games target of 41.

Wheelchair racer Shelly Woods, 22, won Great Britain's 101st medal of the Paralympic Games yesterday with a silver. And David Weir claimed the 102nd gold medal with his second success in three days, winning gold over 1,500 metres to claim his second middle-distance title after landing the 800-metre gold on Saturday.

Caroline Searle, Paralympic GB spokeswoman, was last night unable to confirm if this represents the most medals ever won by a British paralympic team, citing historic gaps in record keeping.

However, she added: "This is one of the best performances from a Great British team of all time … We are really proud of our athletes."

The tally puts Great Britain in second place on the medals table below China and above the United States.

Last night British athletes stood a good chance of winning even more medals in two more scheduled events, the wheelchair marathon and wheelchair fencing.