World Para-athletics Championships: Sammi Kinghorn and Maria Lyle win bronze for GB
- Published
Sammi Kinghorn and Maria Lyle both won bronze medals for Great Britain on day six of the World Para-athletics Championships at London Stadium.
Kinghorn, 21, finished third in the T53 400m to add to her 200m gold and still has the 100m and 800m events to come.
Fellow Scot Lyle, 17, won her second bronze medal of the championships by finishing third in the T35 100m.
American Tatyana McFadden completed a personal quadruple by winning the T54 800m for her 15th career world title.
GB are third in the medal table with 22 in total, including 11 golds.
The 400m was seen as Kinghorn's longest shot at a medal in London and she did it by the smallest of margins, beating Australian Angela Ballard by 0.02 seconds, with Paralympic champion Hongzhuan Zhou claiming gold and world record holder Chelsea McClammer taking silver.
Kinghorn, who is paralysed from the waist down after an accident at her home in 2010, will be in medal contention in the 100m and 800m on Sunday.
"I'm absolutely delighted. In Rio I was 50 metres behind, now I was in the mix in an event I was not expecting to do anything in. I can't believe it," she told BBC Radio 5 live.
"My biggest strength is my sprint at the start. My coach has been incredible, he always trains us so we feel sick at the end of the session and makes us end with a sprint so I have him to thank for being able to hold on at the end."
Lyle, who has cerebral palsy, repeated her double bronze achievement from Rio 2016 by finishing third in the 100m on Wednesday.
It was realistically the best the teenager could hope for, with defending champion Isis Holt of Australia taking gold in a world record time and China's Paralympic champion Xhia Zhou second.
"Coming into today I was a little sore from the 200m. Bronze is a good thing for me. You don't get these opportunities again," she said.
"I saw the good physios we have. I'm a bit away from the first two girls and over the winter I can hopefully improve."
Britain's Richard Chiassaro finished second in his T54 400m heat to progress to Thursday's final as he looks to end an eventful championships on a high.
The 35-year-old, who will race for a fifth consecutive day on Thursday, has finished fourth in the 200m and 800m, and was disqualified from the 1500m after causing a crash. But the 400m is considered his best chance of winning a first major medal.
Team-mate Nathan Maguire missed out on the final by finishing third in his heat.
There were personal bests for two British athletes as Welshman Rhys Jones came second in his heat to reach Thursday's final of the T37 100m and Zac Shaw will be in the T12 200m semi-finals after winning his heat.
The legend of McFadden grows stronger
McFadden, a multiple winner of the Boston, New York, Chicago and London marathons, has now won at least four medals at three different World Championships, having collected four in Christchurch in 2011 and six in Lyon in 2013.
She missed Doha two years ago but has still amassed a total of 19 medals, including 15 gold, in the event, and that is on top of her 16 Paralympic medals, seven of which are gold.
"I feel amazing, I'm so proud of myself. I'm sad it is coming to an end, and I really hope London hosts the World Championships again as they have done a great job with the crowd, the volunteers, the organisation, I really hope we can back here," she said.
"I had surgery three months ago, coming out of surgery I would cry as I didn't know if I would come back. My speeds were so slow and I was thinking 'I would never make it'. I had to step back, focus on recovery 100% and not travel to anything.
"I had to miss the London Marathon and all I wanted to do was make it back to London after 2012. I love the people here and the event. The main goal is the next World Championships and Tokyo 2020."
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