Ellie Simmonds races to second gold glory

Pictures from Channel 4

The poster girl of the Paralympics broke her own world record and stormed into first place in the SM6 200m individual medley.

It was a slow pace to start for Simmonds in the race which which sees athletes doing laps of four different strokes, but she soon stormed ahead in the final laps, kicking her way to first place at a time of 3:05:39.

Speaking straight after the race, the 17-year-old said she had a “panic” half way through, but managed to turn it around.

“I’m just so pleased – another world record again and a chance to do another PB,” Simmonds said straight after the race.

Nat Jones took another medal for ParaGB in the same race, coming in third place.

Also in the pool, Sascha Kindred took silver in the 200m individual medley, missing out on his fourth consecutive gold just before Simmonds’ race. Susie Freeney took bronze in the women’s 100m freestyle S7 and there was disappointment for Jon Fox who missed out on a medal in the men’s 100m freestyle S7.

Ellie Simmonds, who has dwarfism, came out of nowhere to win two gold medals at the Beijing Games at 2008 aged only 13. Now 17, she is one of the most well-known Paralympic athletes representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Three million viewers tuned in to Ellie Simmonds’ dramatic swimming final on Saturday night, where she beat her rival Victoria Arlen of the United States in a world record time of 5 minutes, 19.17 seconds.

The Aquatic Centre roared its support for Simmonds who defended her S6 400m freestyle Paralympic title in an excrutiatingly close race.

Simmonds is the youngest ever recepient of an MBE, and won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2008.

This year’s Paralympic Games has seen record ticket sales and attracted a huge TV audience, prompting Channel 4 to clear its daytime schedule to boost its coverage.