Regret for Birrell at finishing third (From Warrington Guardian)

Regret for Birrell at finishing third

12:15pm Thursday 20th September 2012 in Sport

WARRINGTON Paralympics hero Niki Birrell has been reflecting on his historic sailing medal at London 2012.

The former Lymm High School pupil and partner Alexandra Rickham took bronze in the two-person SKUD class on the final day at Weymouth and Portland.

Together with Helena Lucas taking gold in the 2.4mR class, they were the first medals achieved for Paralympics GB.

Overnight, Rickham and Birrell were sure of at least a bronze but had hoped to snatch a silver but the flat conditions denied them a chance to race.

Birrell, aged 25, said he was more disappointed with the performance on the penultimate day’s racing rather than missing out on an opportunity to turn bronze to silver.

He said: “We didn’t sail as well as we could and, although it was a slim chance, we had the possibility of a gold.

“We threw that away, which is why there was so much emotion, but I’m feeling a lot happier after going to the Olympic Village with a Paralympic medal that means Alex and I have medalled at every SKUD event on the planet. That’s a great achievement over four years.”