[nivo_slider source=”post” link=”image” size=”620×450″ limit=”30″ effect=”random” speed=”600″ delay=”3000″]LONDON, England ● G reat Britain’s Jonnie Peacock won his much-anticipated sprint battle with Oscar Pistorius at the Olympic Stadium to highlight Day 8 at the Games.
Nineteen-year-old Peacock stormed to gold in a Paralympic record 10.90 seconds on a night when team-mates David Weir and Hannah Cockroft claimed their third and second golds of the Games respectively.
Peacock led from the gun after Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira caused a restart, with Richard Browne of the USA taking the silver and Pistorius edged into fourth place by his South Africa team-mate Arnu Fourie.
After the race, Peacock, who contracted meningitis aged five, which led to his right leg being amputated below the knee, hailed the “surreal” experience.
The teenager, from Cambridge, said: “This Games is definitely a legacy and to be part of that is amazing. I knew this crowd was going to be intense. Dave Weir going minutes before – I knew he’d win, and I knew the crowd would be on a high.”
Pistorius was quick to hail Peacock, stating: ‘What we’ve seen tonight is the start of an amazing Paralympics sprinter.
‘I’ve just been watching it on the screen again and it was a great performance. I can’t imagine how happy he must be to do this in front of his home crowd.
‘Well done, it’s a great time for him. He’s still young and he’s got a great future ahead of him.’
Earlier in the evening, Tunisia’s Mahmoud Khaldi won the men’s 400m – T12, while the Ukraine’s Roman Pavlyk took the men’s 200m – T36.
The Paralympic Games spirit was in full force at the Olympic Stadium as Brazil’s Yohansson Nascimento stubbornly refused to give up despite pulling up injured.
The 24-year-old, a gold medal contender in the 100m – T46, saw his dreams ended early in the race by an apparent hamstring injury.
But, fighting back tears and to huge roars from the crowd, Nascimento hauled himself to his feet and limped agonisingly slowly toward the line.
He collapsed to the ground as he crossed the line and was taken off the track in a wheelchair.
China’s Zhao Xu took the gold medal, but there was no doubt who won the crowd’s hearts.
An imperious performance saw British cyclist Sarah Storey claim her fourth gold medal of London 2012 and her 11th Paralympic title in all at Brands Hatch in the Road Cycling.
Storey won the women’s C4-5 Road Race by more than seven minutes to join Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson as Britain’s most successful female Paralympian.
‘It’s a dream come true,’ Storey said. ‘To equal Tanni is a huge honour. Her career was absolutely immense.’
China enjoyed gold-medal success at both the Olympic Stadium and Brands Hatch.
Shot putter Wang Zhiming won the F40 class with a world record 14.46m and Mi Na landed the women’s Discus – C37, while cyclist Zeng Sini took the women’s Individual C1-2-3 Road Race.
Russia’s Denis Gulin claimed the men’s Triple Jump – F11 with a leap of 12.91m and there was a world record for Algerian Mohamed Berrahal in the Discus – F51/52/53.
Ukrainian Yegor Dementyev won the men’s C4/5 Road Race in 1:55, adding road gold to his Time Trial success of yesterday.
The gold medals at London 2012 keep flowing for Australian swimmer Matthew Cowdrey as his country’s most-decorated Paralympian added yet another title in the 200m Individual Medley – SM9. It was his fourth gold in London and his 12th Paralympic victory overall.
South African Natalie Du Toit also won gold, and it was 15-year-old British prospect Josef Craig who took the men’s 400m Freestyle – S7 in a world record 4:42.81.
Australian Jacqueline Freney won the women’s 400m Freestyle – S7 in a world record 4:59.02, her seventh gold of the Games.
Lack of wind forced the abandonment of the final day of the Sailing competitions in Weymouth today, so the medals were awarded on the basis of the overall standings to that point.
Golds went to Britain’s Helena Lucas in the Single-Person Keelboat (2.4mR) class, to Australia’s Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch in the Two-Person (SKUD18) and the Netherlands’ Udo Hessels, Marcel van de Veen and Mischa Rossen in the Three-Person (Sonar).
China’s Zhang Cuiping, who won the first gold of the Games, took Shooting gold in the women’s R8-50m Rifle 3 Positions – SH1 with a total score of 676.6.
Republic of Korea’s Park Seakyun won the gold in the Mixed P4-50m Pistol – SH1 with a total score of 642.4.
China’s Chen Yijun won his second Wheelchair Fencing medal of London 2012 after seeing off countryman Tian Jianquan in a thrilling men’s Individual Sabre – Category A final.
Australia will face Germany for gold in the women’s Wheelchair Basketball tournament tomorrow.
It was a good day for Australia, as both their men’s and women’s teams beat the USA to reach their respective finals.
The men’s team will face Canada, who beat Britain, while the women will play Germany, winners over the Netherlands.
In Goalball, two goals from Jarno Mattila put Finland into the men’s final with a 2-0 win over Turkey at the Copper Box.
Japan scraped into the women’s Goalball final in the most dramatic fashion after edging past Sweden on sudden-death extra throws.
In Wheelchair Rugby action, there were wins for Australia, Britain and Canada while Spain fought to a shock victory over China in the men’s Team – Class 6-8 Table Tennis event on an action-packed day at ExCeL.