Lewis Finishes Competition, Places 8th In 400m
Bermuda’s Paralympian Jessica Lewis took to the track for the final time this evening [Sept 8] at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The 19-year-old competed three events, marking the first time Bermuda has been represented by a track and field athlete at Paralympic level.
Lewis finished the T53 400m finals in 8th place clocking a time of 1:08:88. Hongzhuan Zho from China won the event in atime of 55:47, while Angela Ballard from Australia finished second on 56:06 and Lisha Huang from China finished third clocking 56:87.
Ms Lewis carrying the flag during the Opening Ceremony:
Ms Lewis joined over 4,00 athletes from more than 160 countries during the 11 days of competition. Speaking after her first race she said “Wow what a feeling it was to race in front of 80,000 people.
“I can’t even describe how amazing it felt to wear Bermuda on my back and race among the top women in the world. Thanks for all the support and kind words everyone. My Paralympic debut was a success.”
Ms Lewis is ranked in the top 12 in the world in the 100, 200 and 400 and before she left for London told Bernews she was looking at these Games as an experience, and hopes to continue in the sport.
Quick clip of Ms Lewis training before the Games at National Stadium:
Bermuda first competed at the Paralympic Games in 1996, and have participated in every Summer Paralympics since then. Ms Lewis was the fourth athlete to represent Bermuda at the Paralympic Games, following after Kirsty Anderson, Phyllis Harshaw and Sandy Mitchell who all competed in Equestrian events.
Congratulations Jessica you represented Bermuda very well. All Bermuda is proud of you.
Congratulations!
Hearty congratulations to Jessica on a brilliant performance.
Sadly, televised coverage of the Paralympics was extremely poor, especially in the U.S., here in Bermuda, and even on BBC television. On a positive note, BBC gave us exceptional coverage, and Bernews has done a stirling job. This was enough to whet our appetites for the Rio Games, and I would like to think that in 4 years time we can look forward to having superb TV coverage of both the Olympics and the Paralympics right here at home.
In my last comment I was referring to the excellent coverage on BBC Radio Sports. The excitement generated by this group of highly talented and superfit athletes (who happen to have some disabilities) was palpable throughout the Paralympics and should be converted into first class coverage at the next Games.
I couldn’t agree more ! Unfortunately this is an example of how the challenged are often treated as ‘second class citizens’ – which they definitely DO NOT DESERVE !
Jessica’s ‘desire-dream-vision’ reaches another amazing level !
She represented herself and Bermuda with pride and dignity, and we wish her well at University and in track.
Special and well deserved thanks to Earl Basden for his excellent coverage of Jessica’s events on both Island Stats and BerNews. As a matter of fact his coverage of ALL sporting events is well documented and up to the minute. Even though he has a team to help him, it amazes me how he can be every where at once !!!! As he often quotes: ” I love what I do” —– and therein lies the answer !!!