China extend lead in Paralympic medals table after track success

Paris: China began to exert its traditional dominance at the Paralympics in Paris on Friday, pulling ahead of second placed Great Britain despite a do...

Paris: China began to exert its traditional dominance at the Paralympics in Paris on Friday, pulling ahead of second-placed Great Britain despite a double gold medal success for British swimmers.

The Chinese, who have topped the medal standings at every Paralympics since Athens in 2004, finished the second day of competition with 12 golds, a performance that included three golds on the first day of the athletics programme.

Britain have six golds after Tully Kearney, who has cerebral palsy, and Maisie Summers-Newton both defended their titles from the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.

Kearney won the women's 100m freestyle in the S5 category while Summers-Newton, who was born with achondroplasia, a condition that affects bone development, came home first in the women's 200m individual medley SM6.

"I was really nervous, it's something that's come from Tokyo," Summers-Newton, a qualified primary school teacher, told reporters.