Paralympics 2016: GB's Welsh athletes who have won medals in Rio
- Published
Paralympics GB's 26 Welsh athletes have ended their Rio 2016 campaign with seven medals - including four golds.
Aled Sion Davies
At London 2012, Welsh athletes contributed 15 medals to GB's haul and they will be looking for more success this time around.
BBC Wales Sport has compiled all the key highlights and interviews as we celebrate the success of GB's Welsh medallists at the 2016 Paralympics.
Phil Pratt (wheelchair basketball)
Cardiff-bred Pratt was the seventh and final Welsh member of Paralympics GB to win a medal in Rio.
The 22-year-old from Cardiff helped GB secure an 82-76 overtime win against Turkey in the bronze medal match, prompting an emotional response from the players and their fans.
The match was tied 65-65 at the end of normal time.
Rob Davies (Class 1 table tennis)
Brecon's Davies claimed gold in an emotional final against Young Dae Joo of Korea.
He came out a 3-1 winner, 14-12, 4-11, 11-9, 11-5.
World number one Davies is a former Brecon rugby player who suffered a broken neck in September 2005 following a collapsed scrum against Ynysybwl.
"I have played Young Dae Joo twice in competition before and lost both times," Davies told Channel 4.
"I haven't beaten any of the Koreans for a while so to do it on the biggest stage is brilliant. Come on!"
Hollie Arnold (F46 javelin)
Persistence paid off for Hollie Arnold who finished 11th and fifth in the event at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
In Rio the 22-year-old threw a world record 43.01m to claim the gold medal.
The double world champion who lives and trains in Cardiff, set a record with a throw of 41.68m but broke it again in her final throw to win gold.
"This has been my absolute dream - I cannot believe I am Paralympic champion and double world champion. It is so surreal," Arnold said.
"I've been injured for two months but coming here has been as clean slate and I just went out there with nothing to lose.
"I actually thought I had one more throw! When my coach told me I had won gold I just burst into tears. I didn't expect to break the world record by that much."
Jodie Grinham (archery)
The Cardigan-born 23-year-old secured silver with John Stubbs in the mixed team compound after being beaten 151-143 by China in the final.
"John and I have competed together in a few competitions but have never done better than bronze, so to do so at the Paralympic Games is amazing," said Grinham after making her Paralympic debut.
Her previous biggest achievement was at the 2015 Para World Ranking Tournament in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic where she won a bronze mixed team medal.
Aled Sion Davies (F42 shot put)
The 25-year-old broke the Paralympic record three times on the way to winning gold in Rio.
He threw new bests in the first, second and third rounds, setting a new mark of 15.97 metres with his third throw.
"I'm not really happy with the distance because I'm in shape to throw close to 17m and I really did want to knock it out of the park," said Davies.
"It's the Paralympic Games and, at the end of the day, no-one cares what you throw - it's all about who comes first and I'm just happy I can walk away with that gold.
"I'm so happy now, it's hard to put into words."
Davies won bronze in the shot at the 2012 London Paralympics, where he also won gold in the F42 discus.
Rachel Morris (rowing)
Para-rower Rachel Morris became the first Welsh gold medallist at the Rio Paralympics with victory in the arms-shoulders single sculls.
The 37-year-old from Farnham, whose family hail from Pembrokeshire, finished ahead of China's Lili Wang.
"It feels a bit unreal because I had such an appalling start," said Morris after her win.
"It shows that if you have stuff drilled into you day in, day out with coaches telling you what to do, that plan works."
The Welsh competitor switched to rowing in 2013 and now has three Paralympic medals across two sports, adding to the hand-cycling time trial gold she won in Beijing in 2008 and bronze at London 2012.
Sabrina Fortune (F20 shot put)
The 19-year-old from Flintshire became the first Welsh athlete to win a Paralympic medal at Rio 2016.
Fortune set an F20 shot put personal best of 12.94m to secure bronze.
"You can't picture something as amazing as this. I came here for a PB. I didn't think I'd get a medal as well," Fortune said.
"It was an absolute honour to run around that track with the GB flag flying behind you.
"I just hope, maybe in Tokyo, I'll get the gold medal and listen to the anthem played."
- Published9 September 2016
- Published7 September 2016