First day without gold for Team GB as throwers fall just short in field

Published on Monday 15 September 2008 23:02

GREAT Britain's gold rush came to a halt as throwers Daniel Greaves and Stephen Miller were unsuccessful in the defence of their Paralympic titles in Beijing yesterday.

Having surpassed UK Sport's pre-Games target by moving to 41 golds on day eight, silver was the order of the day as Miller and swimmers Jim Anderson, Robert Welbourn and Fran Williamson finished second, while Greaves and Natalie Jones, in the pool, won bronze.

The first day without a gold left Britain four short of the century mark and second in the medal table behind China, who have 80 golds and 187 in all – but the athletics team are well adrift of their target of 30.

Wheelchair racer David Weir, who is still to contest the 1,500 metres final and the marathon, remains the only British athlete to triumph, with five silvers and six bronze from competition at the Bird's Nest Stadium.

Greaves and Miller were expected to succeed in the defence of the titles claimed in Athens but fell short. Miller had his 12-year unbeaten Paralympics run ended in his fourth Games. The 28-year-old Gateshead Harrier, who has cerebral palsy, finished second in the men's F32/51 club throw with a best of 34.37 metres as Tunisia's Mourad Idoudi set a world record of 35.77m.

"Silver is better than fourth, but obviously I wanted to win," said Miller. "Overall I'm pleased with my performance."

The Briton was magnanimous in defeat, accepting that Idoudi was a deserved successor to his title as Paralympic club champion.

"The athlete from Tunisia threw a massive PB (personal best), but that's sport," added Miller. "I expected to be pushed to the limit but I fully expected 34 metres to win."

Greaves became the first Paralympian to represent Britain in an able-bodied event when selected for the junior national team and expectations were high after he won discus silver in Sydney aged 17 and gold four years later in Greece. But the 25-year-old from Anstey, Leicestershire, could not defend his title, winning bronze in the men's F44 discus with a best throw of 53.04 metres, 2.08m behind gold medal winner Jeremy Campbell of the United States. "Any medal is good," said Greaves, who was born with talapeze feet. "But this wasn't the colour I wanted. I'm gutted I just couldn't produce the extra few metres."

For other members of the British team, thoughts are already turning to the London Paralympics in four years' time.

At 13, Eleanor Simmonds was the youngest member of the British team here in Beijing. Now the Swansea swimmer returns as the most successful female and a double Paralympic champion having triumphed in the women's S6 100 metres and 400m freestyle at the National Aquatics Center. The Olchfa school pupil, who has achondroplasia (dwarfism), is impatient to add to her success, but is looking forward to defending her titles in London. "I have to wait another four years – a long wait – but hopefully it will be even better than here," she added. "I just don't want to go home but I know I have to."

One reason for Simmonds' reluctance to return to south Wales – where she moved to from Walsall 12 months ago to join the high performance centre under coach Billy Pye – is the reality of returning to school. "I've had four weeks not making my brain work that hard and now I have to go back to school," said Simmonds, who has been away with the team for one month having travelled to the holding camp in Macau before Beijing.

"I want to go and see my friends but I don't want to have to work hard."

First she must deal with the celebrity which awaits.

Without hesitation, Simmonds insisted her hero was one of her team-mates. She said: "Nyree Lewis – she's in our team and she's just amazing."

Lewis – winner of one silver from four events in Beijing – was the golden girl in Athens, winning the S6 100m backstroke on her 24th birthday but Simmonds has assumed the mantle.

However, the young pretender expects her hero to bounce back.

"This year hasn't been her year, but watch out in four years' time," added Simmonds. "I'd like us both to win gold."

As for her swimming, Simmonds has eight two-hour training sessions per week, clocking up to four kilometres per session – and it is clearly paying off.

Like her media appearances, her performances in the pool have showed maturity.

Simmonds demonstrated the race head of a multiple Paralympian in taking her opening title, timing her finish to perfection to edge out Dutchwomen Mirjam de Koning-Peper – at 39, three times her age – and world record holder Doramitzi Gonzalez of Mexico.

Through tears of joy Simmonds revealed she had forecast a medal the previous evening – but she predicted the wrong colour. "I had a dream about it, but I only came second," she said.

Six days later, it was a different proposition when Simmonds entered the 400m freestyle as world record holder and favourite. But she did not disappoint, smashing the mark by almost seven seconds to win in five minutes 41.34 seconds. "I already had a gold medal, so anything else was a bonus," she said.

"I went in there to do a PB (personal best) and see what would happen. I didn't really expect the first gold medal and to win this one is great."