Bradley Snyder on Friday won gold in the men’s S11 100m freestyle at the London Paralympics — a year after losing his sight when an improvised explosive device exploded in his face in Afghanistan. The 28-year-old former US Navy lieutenant won the race in 57.43secs, with clear water between him and second-placed finisher Yang Bozun of China and Hendri Herbst Hendri of South Africa in third. Snyder was on a tour of duty as a bomb disposal specialist when on September 7 last year a home-made bomb detonated and blinded him.
The bloody legacy of nearly a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years have led to a number of wounded former service personnel taking up para-sport. In the US team, more than 20 of the 227 athletes are veterans, while Britain’s team includes Jon-Allen Butterworth, a former Royal Air Force weapons technician who lost an arm in a rocket attack in Basra, southern Iraq, in 2007.
Classification reprieve for US swim star: US swim star Victoria Arlen has been given a reprieve amid question marks over her classification, freeing her up to race in the S6 400m final on Saturday without fear of being stripped of a medal.
The 17-year-old is the current world record holder in the women’s S6 100m and 400m freestyle but was declared “non-eligible” earlier this week “because certain information was not provided” when her classification was assessed. She was later re-instated on appeal and on Saturday morning was second-fastest in qualifying for the 400m final behind Britain’s defending champion Ellie Simmonds, who also won the 100m in Beijing. Concerns had been raised that Arlen could be stripped of the gold medal if she were to win because of doubts about her eligibility to swim in the S6 category.
