It was a great start for GB’s cyclists with the unbeatable partnership of Aileen McGlynn and Ellen Hunter winning yet another Gold in the velodrome.

Boccia:

Zoe Robinson, who is making her debut at this year’s Paralympics, is the only female in the Boccia quartet. She had a strong start with a 4-2 win over Canada’s Adam Dukovich and 6-2 win over Keizo Uchida of Japan.

Para-Equestrian Dressage:

After day one ParalympicGB are in first place after a very strong ride from Anne Dunham on Teddy. Sophie Christiansen riding on Lambrusco III also preformed well.

Cycling:

Women’s 1km time trial (B&VI) final: Tandem rider Ailenn McGlynn, along with pilot Ellen Hunter, made a great start to GB’s medal campaign in the Laoshan Velodrome, with a new world record and another gold medal to add to their collection.

Shooting:

In the Women’s 10m standing air rifle Di Coates sadly just missed out on the final after recording 385, which left her just one point short of qualifying. The Paralympic veteran has eight golds from previous Games.

“I couldn’t get into a rhythm at first,” she said. “But with shooting the harder you try the worse it gets. I managed to pull it back but it was too late. If I’d shot 10 on my last one I would have been in the final.”

Swimming:

Women’s 100m butterfly S13 final: Rhiannon Henry finished fifth with a time of 1:07.51 while Jenny Coughlin finished eighth in 1:12.99.

Women’s 200m IM S6 final: A bronze was won by Natalie Jones with a time of 3:15.20. Eleanor Simmonds, finished fifth in 3:18.41 while Nyree Lewis came sixth in 3:23.93.

Women’s 100m butterfly S8 final: Rachael Latham finished seventh in 1:18.61.

Women’s 100m butterfly S9 final: In a race won by South Africa’s Natalie du Toit, with a new world record, Briatin’s Elizabeth Simpkin finished sixth in 1:12.19, while in eigth was Claire Cashmore in 1:13.47.

Table Tennis:

Commonwealth table tennis champion Sue Gilroy had a great start to the Games with a win in both of her class 4 matches. But Claire Robertson lost both hers against Valeria Zorzetto and Sung-Hye Moon.

Wheelchair basketball:

It was always going to be a tough opening match for the basketball team, as they faced silver medalists from Athens Australia. The final score was 59-30 with Sally Wager Britain’s top scorer with five points.

Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine