The Russian-born American's similarity to the home poster boy of these Paralympics grew still stronger here tonight as she matched his achievement of earning three track golds thanks to victory in the women's T54 1500 metres.

What a feast for the Beast.

Weir will seek a fourth title in the marathon on Sunday (September 9).

As will McFadden, naturally.

It is all getting a bit spooky.

McFadden, born without the use of her legs through spina bifida and abandoned in a St Petersburg orphanage until she was adopted aged six by the then commissioner of disabilities for the United States Health Department, Debbie McFadden, has become a huge Paralympian performer at the relatively young age of 23.

After winning four silvers and two bronzes in the course of the last two Games in Athens and Beijing, she has moved into another gear, earning four world titles last year and also picking up titles in the New York and Chicago Marathons.

She bided her time in what was a cagey, tactical race, before striking for home in the back straight and holding her lead to cross in 3min 36.42sec ahead of Switzerland's Edith Wolf, who clocked 3:36.78, and fellow American Shirley Reilly, who recorded 3:37.03.

Asked by the Stadium compere how she could contemplate racing in such disparate events, McFadden responded with a relatively rare smile: "Some people call me crazy."

Some people call her amazing.


Jason Smyth (pictured) of Ireland, who runs with less than 10 per cent vision, picked up his second gold of the Games as he won the men's T13 200m title in a world record of 21.05sec.

Afterwards, Smyth – who made history in 2010 as the first Paralympian to compete in an open European Championship and still hopes to emulate Oscar Pistorius in bridging the Paralympic/Olympic gap – paid tribute to the help of former world 100 and 200m champion Tyson Gay.

"He's been fantastic towards me and he's given me a lot of support and advice," said Smyth.

"I can't credit him enough.

"Since I went there he has taken me under his wing and I don't know what I've done to deserve it and be privileged to have the second quickest man in the world want to see me do well."

Smyth's achievement in winning the 100 and 200 double at the Beijing Paralympics saw some elements of the media likening him to the man who had done the same double at the Beijing Olympics - Usain Bolt.

He did his best to emulate the Jamaican at the medal ceremony as he provided the crowd with a light-hearted Lightning Bolt stance.

Britain's Shelly Woods, a silver medallist in this event four years ago in Beijing, finished sixth behind McFadden in the 1500m, recording 3:37.97.

But the Virgin London Marathon champion may yet earn a measure of revenge in Sunday's race on the roads of the capital she knows so well.

On a day when previous gold medallists Mick Bushell and Richard Whitehead finished out of the medals, it was left to Josie Pearson to generate another precise rendering of the National Anthem in the stadium by winning Britain's 10th athletics gold of the Paralympics in the morning's F51/52/53 discus.

The 26-year-old from Bristol – who switched to athletics after playing wheelchair rugby at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics - won with a flourish, breaking the world record three times with her first three throws and leaving it at 6.58 metres.



Afterwards, Pearson (pictured) expressed her "disbelief", adding: "I don't think it will sink in for a long time. I'm Paralympic champion. It's the culmination of so many years of hard work.

"Team sport just wasn't for me. I wanted to get back in the individual side – and everything's paid off."

Pearson described how Paralympic sport had helped her recover from the car crash she suffered at the age of 17 which put her in a wheelchair and killed her boyfriend.

"It's been a massive part of my recovery," she said.

"I was very sporty before my accident.

"And I knew that after my accident I wanted to get back into sport.

"It's played a huge role.

"To compete in front of a home crowd knowing that everyone is behind you, to know that everyone is here to support you as an athlete, is the most amazing feeling.

"I'm never ever going to forget this experience in my life."

Pearson was Britain's only track and field medallist of the day.

Whitehead, winner of the T42 200m title in a world record six days earlier, would love to be contemplating a similar marathon challenge to his compatriot Woods having become world record holder.

But there is no marathon for him to run in these Games, so his 100m final tonight was his last competitive engagement before he allowed himself to have the drink – either a rum and Coke, or perhaps a champagne with a strawberry on the top – which has denied himself since December 31 last year.

Predictably the Briton was unable to repeat the feat of moving from first to last in the 100m version, finding it impossible to get back to the field after the relatively poor start which is an inevitable part of any double amputee's racing.


Gold went to Germany's Heinrich Popow in a European record of 12.40, with silver going to Australia's Scott Reardon with a personal best of 12.43, and Popow's fellow German Wojtek Czyz earning bronze in 12.52.

Bushell, who won T53 100m gold on Monday (September 3), had only reached tonight's 200m final as one of the fastest losers from the morning's heats, albeit in a European record of 26.73 which earned him third place.

Had he been four thousandths of a second slower, he would not have made it.

The 27-year-old bettered that European mark to 26.32 in the final, but it was only enough for fourth in a race won by Huzhao Li of China in 25.61, with Brent Lakatos of Canada taking silver in 25.85 and Yufei Zhao earning bronze in 26.00.

The day had opened in triumph for Li's Chinese team-mate Wang Zhiming, who had added the men's F40 (maximum height of 1.45m) javelin title to the shot and discus titles he had won earlier in the Games.

China's Liu Ping also had a great day as she broke the world record in the T35 women's 100m final, clocking 15.44 to take 0.2 off the mark she had set in 2005.

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