Mickey Bushell wins gold in men's 100m T53 final
Telford wheelchair racer Mickey Bushell sprinted to victory last night to maintain Britain’s record of winning at least one gold medal on each day of Athletics action at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Roared on by a capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium, Bushell did it in style – racing away from the field to capture the T53 100m title in a Paralympic record of 14.75 seconds.
Bushell was silver medallist in the same event in Beijing four years ago and again at the 2011 World Championships in New Zealand.
But his time for gold arrived on home soil in London’s Olympic Stadium. He was fast away at the start and left a quality field for dead – they never looked like closing the gap. China’s Zhao Yufei, who set a personal best to take silver, was more than a third of a second behind.
Bushell, 22, said he was determined to come away from the London 2012 Games with the 100m gold.
“The 100m is my main event, my strongest event and the one I wanted to win most,” he said. “Gold was the only thing I wanted, it’s been a long, hard four years to get here. It’s a huge relief.
“It was all about the winning tonight. Training has been going really well the past couple of weeks, so I knew I was a big contender for the gold. The conditions on the day were perfect.
“I think I got out second but after the first push I started to pull away and I was confident I could win.”
Bushell’s campaign at London 2012 hasn’t finished– he’s back in action in the T53 200m on Friday.
His medal takes Britain’s Athletics gold medal tally to five.
