Shaw headlines strong start for GB at Stade de France

Zac Shaw made every millisecond count as he stormed into the T12 100m final on Paralympic debut.

The 28-year-old pipped Brazil’s Kelsey Teodoro to reach the showpiece event by just 0.01 seconds at the Stade de France, making it count when it mattered.

And having initially been told that he had finished second in France, it was an unexpected surprise for the sprinter who headed into the press area to hear that he was through to the final in one of the automatic qualifying spots with a time of 11.15s.

“I guess one of the things about being visually impaired is that you can’t see the screen so I got told I had come second,” he said.

“It wasn’t until I got to the mixed zone and someone said ‘congratulations you’ve made the final’ that I realised.

“I asked them to read the scoreboard three or four times to make sure.

“I’m really proud of myself for the journey I’ve been on.

“It’s almost sweeter that I only made the final by one hundredth because it just shows that I’ve really had to work for this.”

Eden Rainbow-Cooper saw her own success in the women’s T54 5000m, finishing fifth in a stacked heat to qualify for tomorrow’s final.

The 23-year-old, who usually favours the longer distance events, pulled a gutsy early few laps to put herself in contention and tire out the competition, holding on for the final automatic qualification spot on Paralympic debut.

“I don’t have the same acceleration at the end as some of the other girls so I had a bold tactic to go out hard for a couple of laps and see if a gap opened which it didn’t and then they all shot past me,” she said.

“It took enough out of the girls that it gave me a better chance so I’m pretty happy with how I executed it.

“I feel good, the final is tomorrow and we will see what happens with that and building into the marathon.”

Later that evening, seven-time Paralympian David Weir brushed off his Tokyo demons to qualify third fastest for the T54 5000m final.

Weir did not qualify for the final at Tokyo 2020, finishing eighth in his heat but bounced back in style at the Stade de France, holding off a late charge from Thailand’s Saichon Konjen and crossing the line for first, banishing the doubts he revealed had been flooding his head in recent days.

“I had a few demons in my head the last couple of days because of what happened in Tokyo but I just sad to focus on my ability and the times I’ve done this year and have confidence in myself,” he said.

“It’s not easy getting back up to number two in the world on the 5k.

“I’m in shape but I’ve had a long season already and quite tired. I’m happy, I just needed to get that race out of the way and I can now focus on the rest of the Games.”