Scottish Borders athlete wins silver medal securing Great Britain's first medal on the track
An athlete from the Scottish Borders has won their second silver medal in the T53 800m final.
Sammi Kinghorn, from Gordon, was narrowly beaten by Swiss athlete Catherine DeBrunner, who set a new Paralympic record at the La Defense Arena.
Sammi said: “I came fourth in Tokyo so to get a silver medal today was absolutely amazing. Catherine (Debrunner) is incredible. I feel like I stayed with her in my bend, but her endurance is just that little bit better. It’s definitely the closest I’ve been all year so we’re getting there slowly.”
It was an upgrade on the 28 year-old's fourth place finish at the Tokyo games in the same event.
She said: “I’ve worked incredibly hard. I won my first Paralympic medals in Tokyo and it was amazing, but if I had come fourth today, just the fact that my mum and dad and friends and family were in that stadium was enough for me. As soon as I crossed the line, I saw my mum and I went over and I was just crying my eyes out.”
Kinghorn made her Paralympic debut at Rio in 2016 and at Tokyo four years later, she became a double Paralympic medallist winning a bronze in the T53 100m and silver in the T53 400m.
The athlete is also the T53 1500m world record holder.
She will take to the track again later this week to compete in the T53 1500m, 400m and the universal relay.
Sammi Kinghorn won ParalympicsGB's first para athletics medal of Paris, she said: “That’s pretty crazy. I was having a little bit of panic out there before the start line and Hannah (Cockroft) gave me a hug and just said to me ‘believe in yourself, you got it’.
"She didn’t need to do that, she’s racing tonight, she could have just taken herself into the corner but she saw that I was worried and came over and I really appreciate that.”
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