Carlee Beattie has made the first strike for Griffith students and alumni competing at the Rio Paralympics by winning bronze in the long jump this morning.
The Bachelor of Arts graduate took bronze with a jump of 5.57 metres, just behind Cuban silver medallist Yunidis Castillo and gold medallist Anna Grimaldi of New Zealand who achieved a personal best of 5.62m.
Carlee Beattie still retains the world record in the F46 class at 6.01 metres, which she achieved at the Sydney Track Classic in 2013.
Carlee is a third-time Paralympian, winning silver in the long jump in London 2012. She also won gold last year at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championship.
Solid start for McShane
Meanwhile, Griffith student Matt McShane (Bachelor of Industrial Design) and the Aussie Rollers wheelchair basketball team accounted for The Netherlands in the first round match with a 70-50 win.
In other Paralympic events on the second day of competition at Rio, Griffith student David Edwards was up against stiff competition from Great Britain as he piloted London gold medallist Kieran Modra in the 4km pursuit this morning.
Kieran came into the competition with a Paralympic record of 4:17.756 from London, where he was piloted by Scott McPhee.
In today’s heat, Kieran and David made a solid start against Great Britain’s Steve Bate and his pilot Adam Duggleby.
However, the fast-finishing Brits outpaced the local pair towards the finish, landing them a world record time of 4:08.146. The Brits went on to win gold in the final.
Kieran and David finished sixth overall with a time of 4:14.339, which was just fractions of a second outside the medal rounds.
Alumna Nicole Esdaile, competing in women’s goalball for Australia, started the campaign with a 5-2 loss toChina in the first round. However, the competition continues with the next round against Ukraine tomorrow night.
For the full competition schedule of Griffith students and alumni click here.