Tully Kearney earns ‘redemption’ as GB lands three medals, two golds and one world record in the pool

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Tully Kearney could be forgiven for getting a bit bored of winning things the hard way.

Kearney thought her Paralympic dreams were over after suffering a head injury last year that affected her memory and left her contemplating her future in the sport.

Vertigo kept her out the pool while she was then hit with the news she’d be reclassified for these Games, meaning she needed to compete with less impaired athletes than her previous rivals.

But Kearney, 27, is nothing if not motivated by a seemingly insurmountable challenge. She won an appeal against that ruling and then scooped S5 200m freestyle gold for good measure.

She needed to fight all the way in a stroke-for-stroke head-to-head tussle with Ukraine’s Irina Poida.

Poida took the early advantage - noteworthy ahead of Kearney’s 100m title defence - but the 27-year-old slowly hunted down her rival to finish just over a half a second ahead in 2:46.50 to upgrade her Tokyo silver in the event.

“It’s been a lot to cope with,” she admitted. “It was really hard with the concussion and then the last three or four months it’s been hard with the mental health issues.

“To be able to get here means a lot to me. Even a few weeks ago we weren’t sure if I was going to come out and compete or how many events I would do. I wanted redemption and I’m just absolutely ecstatic and a bit speechless. When I got in that pool, I didn’t think anything could stop me.”

Kearney followed teenager Poppy Maskill onto the podium after she claimed Great Britain’s first gold of the Games with a world record in the S14 100m butterfly.

Maskill, just 19, collects Crocs - boasting 20 pairs at home - but on this evidence it won’t be long until she has as many medals to match, with her signature events to come.

“It’s unreal and it feels weird to be the team’s first gold medallist,” she said, after clocking 1:03.00 to erase team-mate Olivia Newman-Baronius’s world best. “This gives me so much confidence.”

William Ellard insisted he was ready to turn silver into gold after cracking the Paralympic podium at the first attempt.

Ellard, just 18, only started competitive swimming two years ago but has already become a force to be reckoned with.

Last year saw him win three world medals on his international debut and he showed no fears of the bright lights to claim S14 100m butterfly silver at La Defence Arena.

And his best event, he’s a joint world record holder over double the distance, is still to come this weekend.

Ellard touched the wall at 50 metres with a narrow lead over his rivals but Denmark’s Alexander Hillhouse chased him down in the closing metres to clock a 54.61 second Paralympic record.

“I didn’t think I’d be happy with a silver medal but I’m a really good friend with Alexander and I’m delighted for him,” he said. “I felt myself tiring up in the last 25 metres and I knew he was coming for me.

“I’ve still got my main event, the 200m freestyle, coming up and this has given me big confidence for that.

“This makes me want to strive even more for that medal, my fitness is good and I’ve total trust in my coach that we’ve got our preparation right.”

Ellard claims whatever happens in Paris will be a bonus so early in his competitive career, targeting Los Angeles in four years as his principal ambition.

“I’m world champion and European champion, so next thing is, hopefully, to be a Paralympic champion,” he added.

“The main priority was LA initially, so this it’s sort of like a bonus. The main thing for me is to learn what these big events are about.”

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