Paralympics 2021 - Hannah Russell defends her S12 100m backstroke title, holding off Daria Pikalova
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ByEurosport
Updated 27/08/2021 at 09:06 GMT
The 25-year-old won ParalympicsGB's eighth gold medal of the Games with a fine swim in her third Olympic games. Her turn at the halfway point proved pivotal as she held off the challenge of Daria Pikalova to defend her gold medal won in the event at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. It's a remarkable return for Russell, who took a break after Rio to deal with mental health issues.
Hannah Russell
Image credit: Getty Images
Hannah Russell has retained her Paralympic title in the women's S12 100m backstroke.
Russell began the race well and was side by side with Russian Paralympic Committee's Daria Pikalova +0.86 seconds behind. But it was the turn where she broke away.
It got really tense in the final 25m as Pikalova closed the gap, but Russell held on with a 0.32 second lead to add another gold medal to ParalympicsGB's medal haul.
Russell said afterwards she knew how important the turn would be.
"In a visually impaired event, the turn is prime," she told Channel 4 afterwards.
"I've been focusing on it so much this year in training. I knew it was going to be really tough on that back end.
"For me, taking a bit of time out around 2018-2019 was really important for me. It was really important for my mental health, I struggled with my mental health a couple of years ago but I overcame it.
Always believe in your ability.
For Russell it is her seventh Paralympics medal.
Russell's gold kickstarted a successful day in the pool with Reece Dunn winning gold in the men's S14 200m backstroke in a world record time of 1:52.40. Jordan Catchpole came fifth in a time of 1:56.33.
SILVER FOR FIRTH, BRONZE FOR APPLEGATE
Britain took silver and bronze in the Women's S14 200m freestyle with Bethany Firth losing her crown in the event.
Firth had to settle for silver as Russian Paralympic Committee's Valeriia Shabalina pipped her to the wall in the final 25m.
Jessica-Jane Applegate took bronze in 2:09.53, just under six seconds after Shabalina and Firth.
"It was a really good race, I love when races are so close," Firth said afterwards.
"Unfortunately I didn't get the touch but after the year I've had I'm so happy with that.
"I basically got a kids paddling pool and a bungee rope [to train with in lockdown], so it was a challenge in the Northern Ireland weather."
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