Paralympics round-up: Tight margins prove harsh for Shauna Bocquet and Sarah Slattery

Shauna Bocquet narrowly missed out on a place in the T54 100m final at the Stade de France, bringing an end to her inaugural Paralympic Games.
The 20-year-old Galway athlete finished fifth in her heat on Wednesday morning, just 0.10 seconds off a qualifying spot. Bocquet’s time of 17 seconds flat placed her behind fourth-placed Alexandra Helbling in 16.90, with the Swiss athlete advancing to the final.
“The 100m is not my favourite, it’s very short, so by the time you start, it’s over,” said Bocquet.
“I definitely prefer the longer distances, but I enjoyed that. I’ve loved my time here in Paris. I loved the races and the whole experience around the village. I have a few days now to just relax and take in the whole experience even more.”
It was a similar hard-luck story for dressage rider Sarah Slattery at Château de Versailles as she missed out on a spot in the finals of the freestyle by just one place as well.
Slattery, riding Savona, produced a brilliant test to score 68.410 per cent, finishing ninth. The final qualifier was Lotta Wallin on Questionmark in eighth place with a score of 69.026.
But Slattery was happy with her Paralympic debut.
“That was absolutely amazing, it was just the best venue, the best weather, the best crowd and atmosphere,” she said.
The story of day seven from an Irish perspective was written in Clichy-sous-Bois where Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly won gold, but they were not the only Team Ireland cyclists in action.
Richael Timothy finished 12th in the C1-3 individual time-trial, completing the 14.1km circuit in 24:32.40.
“It’s a tough course, it’s technical enough, there are two drags in the course and then some uphill,” said Timothy. “I caught the two people in front of me, they are in different categories than me, so it was hard to know where you were.”
Ronan Grimes came in eighth with a time of 39:01.83 in the C4 individual time-trial.
“During the race I thought I could be on for a good result but then when I got over the finish line, I thought I was just not at the races, really. I don’t know why, I was pushing hard,” he said.
“I caught the person who went out a minute before me so I thought I was doing well. I pushed hard on the climbs, I thought I was going well but maybe the others were just better.
“I’m disappointed with the result, my form has been good and I was confident going into this race but it just didn’t happen for me.”
Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin were also in action in the B individual time-trial, coming in seventh with a time of 36.31.09.