Paralympics: Bronze medals take tally to 10

By GREG ANSLEY

SYDNEY - New Zealand's Paralympic medal tally rose to 10 last night with bronze medals to swimmer Dean Booth in the 100m freestyle and runner Matt Slade in the T37 100m.

The New Zealanders have now won three gold, five silver and two bronze medals.

Booth, a 22-year-old cerebral palsy swimmer from Auckland, added his bronze to the gold he won in the S7 400m freestyle event on Sunday by shaving 1.5s off his personal best to finish in 1m 5.06s.

His time was 1.7s behind world recordholder David Roberts, of Britain, and Australia's Alex Harris.

"I felt pretty good," he said. "I started hurting at the very end, but you've got to be hurting to know you've swum a good race.

"I'm way pleased with my time."

Slade ran third behind Algeria's Mohammed Allek, who set a new Paralympic record, and Germany's Peter Haben.

"I'm a little bit tired, but I feel pretty fit, pretty good," he said.

Allek also won the 200m.

New Zealand's boccia team moved into the final eight by winning their round yesterday.

"We're rapt," manager Andy Roche said. "This is what we came for."

Auckland wheelchair racer Gavin Foulsham made a spectacular bid to win the gruelling T54 5000m, leading the race for much of the way before being overtaken in a final sprint by a group led by Thai phenomenum Prawat Wahoram, Russian Alexei Ivanov, who was second, and Canadian Jeff Adams, who won bronze.

An exhausted Foulsham finished 12th and last.

Rotorua's Tanya Bradley was sixth in the women's T20 200m final, and swimmers Sean Trethaway (S9 100m freestyle) and Hayden Brown (S10 100m freestyle) failed to make the finals of their events.

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