European Para Champion Greta Streimiktye missed out on her quest for a Paralympic medal in the T13 1500 final in Tokyo today as she placed 5th in a fine 4.34.82.
Greta, who was a 4th place finisher in Rio in 2016, went into today’s race with strong medal ambitions. After a strong opening lap she was in a good position, however, with the Gold and Silver positions seemingly resolved Mengistu (ETH) taking gold from Corso (USA) silver, she remained in the battle for bronze until the final bend, when the Tunisian athlete Bousaid pulled away opening a gap on some 3 seconds to take the final podium spot and with it that precious bronze.
Post race Greta gave a very honest summation saying: “I don’t want to blame it on the conditions. We’re (in Tokyo) for a while now and I wouldn’t blame the conditions. I just didn’t perform and it’s very disappointing. I really hope that next Olympic Games or even coming up to Worlds, I perform better than I did today.”