Oarsome: Emma Wiggs paddles to canoe glory as Britain grabs three more gold medals at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Canoeist Emma Wiggs won the first gold of a potential Tokyo 2020 double as Britain passed 100 medals on day 10 of the Paralympics.
Wiggs, who won the KL2 kayak event at Rio 2016, landed gold in the first ever women’s VL2 competition at the Paralympics.
The 41-year-old, who has nerve damage in her legs, had to overcome wrist surgery and Covid restrictions just to make it to the Games.
“I had a really rocky nine months of feeling completely lost and probably for the first time in my life I felt disabled, with a little wrist injury,” said Wiggs.
“The help and support that I got then was really crucial to getting me here today. It’s just been a lot of hard work and our team are just incredible.
“We were off the water for 15 weeks at the start of the pandemic, which impacted my kayak quite a lot. I live in a bungalow in the middle of Derbyshire so there’s not much water around.
“I just decided that I need to put my big-girl pants on and make the most of the extra year. I’m a year older, so it’s not that easy and the youngsters are coming through.”
Wiggs, who competed at the London 2012 Paralympics in sitting volleyball, is due to defend her KL2 title on Saturday.
Britain won two more golds on a successful morning of athletics for ParalympicsGB.
Jonathan Broom-Edwards prevailed in a three-way shoot-out for the T64 high jump gold by clearing 2.10m with his second attempt.
Owen Miller timed his final-lap burst to perfection to win the men’s 1,500m T20 on his Paralympic debut.