Telford Paralympic ace takes home IPC gold
Telford's Mickey Bushell has promised there is more to come from him in Swansea after adding IPC Athletics European Championship gold to his glittering medal collection.
The Paralympic wheelchair ace fended off Frenchman Pierre Fairbank to storm home in 15.58 seconds in the T53 100m final.
It was another major accolade for 24-year-old Bushell. Despite being a multiple Paralympic and world medallist, he has never previously competed at a European Championships.
Bushell will now turn his attention to today's 200m final – and believes the home crowd can help him double his medal tally.
"I'm definitely very happy with that performance and to do it in front of a home crowd is pretty special," said Bushell, who won 100m gold at the London 2012 Paralympics.
"It was windy but the crowd carried me along. It feels brilliant because it's the first Europeans I've been to.
"Winning the gold is pretty special. It's been a hard year in training and it's been slow progress but it's finally coming together – there's still a lot more to come though.
"It's the first major competition I've won since London 2012, so it's a real highlight.
"This is the building block for Rio (2016 Paralympics). I was more at home with the sprint. That's what I go for and I've got the 200m next so hopefully there will be another medal there."
Despite his preference, Bushell is a force over the longer distances too – finishing fourth in the 800m on Tuesday behind Britain teammate Moatez Jomni. "It was fantastic to see Moatez get a medal at his first major championship – I couldn't be happier for him," he added.
National Paralympic Day is on Saturday, August 30 with Paralympic sport and disability arts in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. For sport tickets, log on to www.axs.com/national-paralympic-day.
Meanwhile, Ellesmere Titans swimmer Chris Walker-Hebborn is targeting a third gold medal in the European Swimming Championships in Berlin tonight.
Last night, the 24-year-old booked a place in the final of the men's 50-metres backstroke.
The Commonwealth Games double gold medallist will be backed to triumph after winning the 100m backstroke for Great Britain on Tuesday.
He also steered the mixed 4x100 medley relay team to a new world record as they topped the podium.
