Teenager Poppy Maskill was
crowned Paralympic champion after setting a new world record time
and admitted: “It was pretty cool.” The 19-year-old put on a sensational
performance in the Women’s 100 meter Butterfly S14 to win ParalympicGB’s
first gold medal of Paris 2024. Paralympic debutant Maskill led from start to
finish as she clocked 1:03.00 to knock 0.33 off the previous world record, which was jointly held
by her Brtitish team-mate Olivia Newman-Baronius. She had qualified fastest from the morning’s
heats but was 0.66 seconds quicker in the final. Maskill never looked like being beaten after a flying first 50 meter that saw
the field trailing in her wake. When asked if she could believe
that she would win a Paralympic gold medal in a time like that, Maskill said: “No. “I was just trying my hardest to see what happens. “It was pretty cool – it’s just unreal.” Newman-Baronius was agonisingly just
outside the medals as she took fourth place in a time of 1:04.59 – 0.71
seconds faster than her heat swim. She was only 0.19 adrift of the Neutral Paralympic
Athlete Valeriia Shablina, who took the bronze. Louise Fiddes finished in sixth spot in 1:06.91
– a second faster than her qualification time.