Kevin Paul takes gold at the Paralympics 2016
Team South Africa’s Paralympic medal chase is off to a golden start after swimmer Kevin Paul powered his way to breaststroke gold in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday night.
The 25-year-old won the SB9 100-metre event in 1min 04.86sec to win his second Paralympic gold medal after doing the same in Beijing eight years ago.
In London four years ago, Paul had to settle for silver in his keynote event. Paul, formerly of Port Elizabeth but now training in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal with national swimming coach Graham Hill, got off to a great start.
But at the halfway mark he was lying second and Ukraine swimmer Denys Dubrov looked to have stolen a march on the South African.
Paul is noted for his strong finish and that came to the fore as he got up to edge Dubrov into silver (1.05.10).
ALSO READ: WATCH: The opening of the Rio Paralympics 2016
Earlier Paul had dominated his heat, winning in 1:06.19 to book his place in the final.
’It wasn’t my personal best but tonight was never about time, it was about getting into that pool and getting to the 100m first. I can jump into the pool next week and swim a faster time but it’s not going to get me a Paralympic gold,’ said Paul after getting gold.