Andrew Small claims gold for Britain in T33 100m final

Wheelchair racer Andrew Small grabbed Paralympic gold for Great Britain after blitzing his rivals in the men’s T33 100m final.

Small powered to victory in a time of 17.73 seconds on day six of the Games after flying out of the blocks at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

© Thomson Reuters Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games - Athletics - Men's 100m - T33 Final - Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - August 30, 2021. Andrew Small of Britain in action REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

The blistering start proved crucial as defending champion Ahmad Almutairi of Kuwait threatened to snatch victory by closing the sizeable gap, only to cross the line a tenth of a second behind.

Small’s success was an upgrade on the bronze he won behind Almutairi at Rio 2016, with third place on the podium on this occasion going to his GB team-mate Harri Jenkins in a season’s best 18.55secs.

“I entered the race, I don’t ever expect outcomes, I just go and do it and see what happens and hey ho this is where we got,” the 28-year-old told Channel 4.

“I normally have a Garfield brought to me where ‘I hate Mondays’, so I may have to change that now.”

Victory for Small brought ParalympicsGB’s 25th gold of the Games.

Another Briton, James Freeman, finished fourth of the five racers in 19.69secs.

Reference: Independent: Ed Elliot