Salford University Paralympic swimmer Hannah Russell wowed spectators in the Olympic Acquatics Centre last night to swoop for gold in the S12 100m backstroke.
Russell, 20, beat her nearest rival Ukrainian Yaryna Matlo by an incredible six-second margin to smash her own world record in a time of 1:06.06s.
Dominating from the start the Sports Science student had the race by the scruff of the neck after just 50 metres, powering away to victory with a stunning turn.
The partially-sighted athlete has now bettered her total of three medals at the London 2012 Paralympics.
Aged just 16 she won silver for 400m freestyle, and then added to her campaign by winning two bronze medals in the 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly.
But Russell was way ahead of the competition in the two-length race in Rio de Janeiro last night.
Earlier she looked on as Aaron Moores took gold the SB8 100m breaststroke while Mikey Jones triumphed in the S7 400m freestyle.
The result pushes Great Britain’s Paralympic team to new heights, with 43 gold medals easily surpassing the haul of 34 in the London 2012 Paralympics.
@C4Paralympics
She told Channel 4: “That felt really fast, I was really happy to get out.
“It was an amazing crowd and to get a world record is amazing.”
Read: Rio-bound Salford Paralympian Hannah, 20, eager to get started
ANOTHER WORLD RECORD BITES THE DUST #Paralympics GOLD for @H_Russell96 & a stunning S12 100m backstroke WR
— C4 Paralympics (@C4Paralympics) September 14, 2016
She added: “I’ve been training for four hard years and I wanted to execute the perfect race so to do it here is fantastic.
“This week I’ve been up in the stands watching all my teammates swim, it’s been incredible seeing all the medals and PBs so I couldn’t wait to get in the water.
“I’ve always dreamed about standing on top of the podium, I’ve got lots of family here supporting me so it’s amazing.”
Main image: Channel 4
