Maria Lyle joyously posed for a hundred selfies and had thousands cheering in return as she indulged herself in the lengthiest lap of honour at the world para athletics championships in London last night on another evening of glory for the British team.
The 17-year-old from Dunbar had never been to this former Olympic Stadium until this week and felt both the anticipation and the nerves. Yet she banished both to one side to claim bronze in the 200m T35 final as her Australian rival Isis Holt defended her title.
Lyle’s time of 29.87sec was more than she could have hoped for just days before, when a heel injury sustained in the training camp so nearly extinguished her bid.
“My fascia got inflamed so I was only able to sprint last Wednesday,” she revealed. “A week ago, I couldn’t run. So to come here and do a season’s best, I can’t ask for more than that. It wasn’t the best performance in the world and I was a bit behind the other two but it’s still a bronze medal.”
Too young to compete at London 2012, this was an experience she was determined not to forego. She will run the 100m later this week but Lyle expects her best to lie years ahead and this was a gratifying bonus prize.
“When I walked out, I went, ‘Oh my god’. I was a bit freaked out,” she said. “But I was thinking about what I needed to do and trying to remember there was no pressure to get gold.”
Elsewhere Jonnie Peacock, overcame hamstring cramp to regaind his 100m T44 title in 10.75sec with Jason Smyth surging clear in the 100m T13 final to win in 10.63sec. While Welshman Aled Davies make it a third F42 discus title in a row
With the UK extending its lead at top of the medal table, it only just failed to quite live up to the billing of a Super Saturday that brought five golds in quick succession, including maiden world titles for Scottish duo Stef Reid and Sammi Kinghorn.
Reid, 31, leapt 5.40m to win the T44 long jump with her husband making it a family double in the T53 200m. Kinghorn, still just 21, lowered her own world record to 28.61sec to dominate the T53 200m final. And with three further events this week, the wheelchair racer admits the success may prove a huge landmark in her still-young career.
“All I told myself,” she said, “was to come out as strongly as possible and if that meant a medal, that’s great.”
Elsewhere, Laura Muir continued her build-up to the IAAF world championships with a comfortable 1500m win in Padova last night in 4:05.01. Eilidh Doyle took third place behind world champion Zuzana Hejnova in the 400m hurdles at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat in 54.92sec.
Her prospective relay team-mate Zoey Clark tuned up for her 400m bid with the fifth quickest 100m of all time by a Scot of 11.54sec in Bromley before landing a double win in the 200m.
Meanwhile Pitreavie prospect Jack Lawrie took seventh place in the 400m hurdles final at the European Under-23 Championships in Poland in 50.60 sec with Neil Gourley edged into fourth in Saturday’s 1500m final.
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