Emotional bronze medals for Rob Oliver and Stuart Wood
Rob Oliver won a superb bronze medal , made all the more emotional as he was the only member of the team not to make it on to the podium in Rio , where he just missed out in the men ’ s KL3 .
It ’ s been far from a smooth ride to Tokyo for Rob . He contracted Covid five weeks ago , delaying his flight out to Japan . Despite his numerous set-backs , he put himself in contention for medals in a thrilling men ’ s KL3 final .
In an incredibly tight finish , Rob , coached by Colin Radmore , claimed a brilliant bronze and his first Paralympic medal in a time of 41.268 , with just . 012 of a second separating third and fourth .
The seventh medal for the paracanoe team was won in the new men ’ s VL3 event by debutant
Stuart Wood who was roared on by his family at home in a specially decorated ‘ Paralympic Den ’.
After claiming a Paralympic Best time in the semi-finals , the final race was a nail-biter with Stuart winning an incredible bronze as he crossed the line in a tight finish , in a time of 52.760 .
Legendary status secured for Jeanette Chippington
Chippington further cemented her Paralympic legend status with a bronze medal in the new women ’ s VL2 event , alongside Emma Wiggs who claimed gold .
It was Jeanette ’ s 14th Paralympic medal and her second medal in paracanoe , after winning gold in the women ’ s KL1 at the Rio 2016 Games .
Bronze also ensured that Jeanette had medalled in her seventh consecutive Games , having first competed as a swimmer at Seoul in 1988 .
Coached by John Griffiths , Jeanette ’ s bronze was ParalympicsGB ’ s 100th medal of the Tokyo 2020 Games and she was ParalympicsGB oldest medallist at 51-years-old .
A finals secured for Ian Marsden and Dave Phillipson
After transferring from wheelchair tennis ,
Dave Phillipson was competing in his first Games for paracanoe . After strong performances in the heat and semifinals Dave battled hard in the men ’ s KL2 final , where he finished seventh in a time of 43.348 .
Speaking after the final Dave said : “ I ’ ve put my heart and soul into this over the last five years , moving from tennis after three games without a medal , I saw my chance in Paracanoe and I gave it my all out there .”
In the men ’ s KL1 , Rio 2016 bronze medallist
Ian Marsden threw everything into the race and finished eighth in a time of 52.848 .
Afterward he reflected : “ It ’ s been good to get out there and pick up more experience and Paris really isn ’ t that far away . Thanks so much to everyone at home for supporting me and staying up at all hours .”
Ian and Dave are coached by Matt Lawrence and both athletes have had Paralympic Games campaigns that they can be proud of .
Reflecting on a successful campaign Head Coach Scott Simon said : “ What a competition ! To come away with seven medals , I knew it was possible but to get it done was everything we ’ ve dreamed about . It ’ s amazing what the athletes have done , but it ’ s not without the support of everybody back home pushing us and the Tokyo team of staff that were out there as well .
A shout out to our technical coaches Colin Radmore , Matt Lawrence , and John Griffiths , who have worked hard to support athletes chase their goals . It couldn ’ t have been done without the team of Jonathan Smith , Charlotte Wade , Matthew Thompson and Steve Train putting it all together for us !”
Congratulations to all of our Olympic and Paralympic athletes , their coaching teams and the support staff who worked tirelessly and overcame the adversities of the pandemic to put on some incredible performances in Tokyo .
Full details of our Olympic and Paralympic athletes , results , schedules and news can be found on our
Paddle to Tokyo website .
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Canoe Focus Late Summer 2021