Arlen finally wins gold as Games near end

LONDON: US swimmer Victoria Arlen yesterday took Britain Ellie Simmonds’ S6 100m freestyle title, swimming to victory in a new world record for her first Paralympic gold of the London Games.
The 17-year-old led from the front to take the race in 1min 13.33sec, more than a second faster than her previous world best, with Beijing champion Simmonds in silver and Tanya Groepper of Germany in third.
Simmonds won both the S6 100m and 400m freestyle titles in Beijing four years ago at the age of just 13. She successfully defended the longer race in London and added the 200m crown as well as a bronze in the 50m.
Arlen was the center of a classification row before the start of the Games, which saw her omitted from the start lists then reinstated on appeal.
Concerns were then raised that she could be stripped of any gold medal were she to win but the International Paralympic Committee said that they would reassess her case in August next year.
Arlen’s win was her first gold of the Games, after she took silver in the 50m and 400m freestyle and in the 4x100m freestyle 34 points relay.
At the age of 11, the teenager was diagnosed with the neurological condition post-infectious transverse myelitis, which affects the spinal cord and left her in a vegetative state for two years.
Brazil meanwhile defended their unbeaten record in five-a-side football, beating France 2-0 to clinch their third gold in the three Games since the sport was introduced.
Among the final gold matches, in wheelchair tennis, former military helicopter pilot Noam Gershon from Israel took the men’s quad singles title.
Ireland’s Jason Smyth proved himself as the fastest Paralympian in history by defending his 100m and 200m double from Beijing, while Du Toit’s teammate Oscar Pistorius sought to salvage his Games after two shock defeats.
In the Olympic Stadium, Irish sprinter Smyth showed his undisputed class by breaking his own T13 200m world record for visually impaired athletes to win in 21.05sec, less than a week after winning the 100m in another world best time.
The 25-year-old, who has the genetic condition Stargardt’s disease, won the same double in Beijing four years ago, while Russia-born US wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden took her third gold of the Games in the T54 1,500m.
Both victories came before Pistorius eased through to Saturday’s final of the T44 400m for single and double below-the-knee amputees, which as the only athlete in the field who has run under 50sec, he is expected to win.
Predictions of a Pistorius victory in the sprints have gone awry in London after he lost his 100m and 200m titles in a clear sign of a shift in power away from the most recognizable face in disabled sport.
The new 100m champion, Britain’s Jonnie Peacock, said the fact that all eight finalists on Thursday ran under 12sec demonstrated the improvements other athletes had made in the sport since Beijing.
At the pool, 13-time Paralympic gold medalist du Toit broke down in tears after winning silver in the S9 100m freestyle behind Australia’s Ellie Cole.
“It’s all over,” said the 28-year-old Du Toit, who was a promising non-disabled swimmer until 2001 when she had her left leg amputed below the knee after a scooter accident.
“I walk away with absolutely no regrets. I look back and I think I gave everything. No matter what emotions you go through I gave everything in the pool, everything as a person and I’m satisfied.” The Cape Town swimmer’s story of courage in the face of a major setback has inspired millions.
Former US Navy lieutenant Brad Snyder is doing likewise, as he won the men’s S11 400m freestyle gold for blind and visually impaired swimmers — exactly a year to the day since he was blinded on the battlefields of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Jacqueline Freney won her eighth gold of the Games as Australia’s women won the 4x100m medley 34 points relay; Brazil’s Daniel Dias and Matthew Cowdrey of Australia both claimed their fifth golds.
In cycling, more road medals were decided at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in southeast England, with another gold for former Formula One and Indy car driver Alessandro Zanardi.
Zanardi, 45, who had both legs amputated after a horror smash in 2001, took the men’s H4 time-trial over 16 km on Wednesday and followed it up on Friday by taking the 64km road race in a thrilling sprint finish.
Elsewhere, Japan beat China 1-0 in the women’s goalball final while Finland took men’s gold with an 8-1 victory over Brazil.