New Zealand Paralympic Team continues gold rush, with another outstanding Gold in the pool, this time from Nikita Howarth
14 September 2016, 9:34AM
Paralympics New Zealand
Paralympian Nikita Howarth put in a phenomenal swim today in Rio de Janeiro, to pick up her second medal of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games - a GOLD in the Women's 200m Individual Medley SM7.
This result follows hard on the heels of her performance yesterday, which saw Howarth collect her first ever Paralympic medal, a BRONZE in the Women's 50m Butterfly S7. At just 13 years old, Howarth became New Zealand’s youngest ever Paralympian at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Howarth did the business today in 2:57.29, 5 seconds ahead of Tess Routliffe (Canada) and 7 seconds ahead of Courtney Jordan (USA). She went into the finals after taking a commanding lead in her heat today, to qualify fastest for the final in a time of 2:58.82, 4.5 seconds faster than her rivals.
The medal is the second for the New Zealand Paralympic Team today, with New Zealand flag bearer Holly Robinson taking a superb SILVER this morning in the Women’s Javelin F46. The only remaining Paralympian to compete today is Sophie Pascoe, who will contest the Women's 100m Freestyle S10 at 9.16am NZT. The New Zealand Paralympic Team now has 15 Paralympic medals of 18 targeted.
Nikita Howarth - came to attention at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, becoming New Zealand’s youngest Paralympian at just 13 – finishing 6th, 9th and 11th despite her age. Since then, Howarth has come into her own, winning two gold medals at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. She is currently ranked 1st, 1st, 3rd and 8th in her four events.
Find Nikita Howarth’s biography here.
The 31-strong New Zealand Paralympic Games Team will compete at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games between 8-19 September 2016 NZT, with a mighty global contingent of 4,350 other athletes from 160 countries. The Paralympics is the world’s largest multi-sport event for disabled athletes. New Zealand will contest six Para-Sports, chasing a target of 18 medals in total, including 12 gold medals.