In case you missed all the action in the Discuss Final here are some of the highlights from Noelle’s great day in Rio.
Noelle was drawn to throw second in the opening round and set a strong marker for the rest of the field setting a new Paralympic record of 31.71m. But her main challenger to the title Mi Na had her own marker to set, breaking the world record with her opening throw.
The atmosphere in the stadium built over the four following rounds as the largest crowd to date in the Paralympics cheered on Brazilian Shirlene Coelho who was in second place between Noelle and Mi Na. The final round of throws was a nail biting affair as Noelle was under pressure to stay ahead of the Canadian Renne Danielle Foessel who was throwing very consistently and had beaten/run very close to Noelle in every round bar the crucial opening round. If she beat Noelle’s record throw of 31.71m then Noelle would have to throw better again to keep her hands on the Bronze. Here is the video from that crucial final set of throws.
Noelle’s level of maturity on the field was only surpassed by her maturity in the media centre afterwards. Not many 16 year olds would perform as well as Noelle did in front of the worlds media.
Unfortunately the live TV coverage ended before the medal ceremony took place. Fortunately though the Paralympics Committee have an excellent Youtube Channel. Here is the medal ceremony that we all missed: