Henshaw wins his second Paralympic gold under difficult conditions

The Mansfield native won the first-ever women's VL3 title on Saturday and backed up that success with a dominant performance on Sunday.

Despite difficult conditions, Henshaw set a Paralympic record, beating her teammate Emma Wiggs by 2.46 seconds with a time of 49.07.

“Oh my goodness, that was a struggle,” said Henshaw, one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport's National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, which gives them full-time training, access to the world's best coaches and groundbreaking medical support – which has been crucial on their road to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“In terms of the weather, those were probably the toughest 200 m I’ve ever had to run at a major.

“It wasn't pretty, and probably not my best performance in terms of looks, but I'm really proud of how quickly I was able to think, how I used all my experience in water sports and how I managed to do what I wanted with the kayak and cross the finish line first.

“I'm proud of both of us for fighting through it. It wasn't easy, but I'm grateful that we did it. I can hardly believe that I won gold yesterday and that I'm now standing here with another medal.

“It simply surpasses anything I could have imagined.”

Henshaw's two gold medals helped Great Britain top the para-canoe medal table with eight medals for the third Games in a row.

The 37-year-old, who trains at Holme-Pierrepoint in Nottingham, was taking part in her fifth Games after previously competing as a swimmer for ParalympicsGB.

Before she started paracanoeing, Henshaw had never won a Paralympic gold medal, but now she has won three times, and both of her victories in Paris were with a teammate.

Hope Gordon also won her first medal in her second Paralympic sport: silver in the VL3, after switching from cross-country skiing.

Henshaw added: “I was a one-event swimmer. As a swimmer I only swam 200m breaststroke so I was always ready and prepared for a race.

“So I go to the games knowing that I have a busier schedule, very tight, we have not only prepared for this year.

“It was really special to be given two chances and to know that it would have been my dream to be on the top podium in both of them and I just can't believe it's happening.

“Would you have told me when I entered this sport that this would be my path to Paralympic gold?

“I started this sport because I wanted a new challenge and didn’t know where it would lead me.

“But I’m so grateful that I’ve found a second sport that I love and that I’m just getting better and better at.”

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