Kiwi swim sensation Sophie Pascoe has added another Paralympics medal to her haul, claiming bonze in the women's S9 100m backstroke final at the Tokyo Games on Monday.
The 28-year-old powered through the first leg but faded on the final stretch, finishing behind first-placed American Hannah Aspden and Spain's Nuria Marques Soto with a time of 1m11.15s.
The medal is her second in as many events at these Games, after winning silver in the S8 100m breaststroke last week.
It's also the 17th overall of her decorated career, further adding to her record medal haul and solidifying her place as New Zealand's greatest Paralympian.
Remarkably, it's also Pascoe's first bronze medal, with nine gold and seven silver already to her name.
Backstroke has long been one of Pascoe's strongest events, having already won gold at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, and again at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. She still holds the world record of 1m7.41s, which she set in Auckland in 2019.
With three events to come, Pascoe is on track to achieve her goal of medalling in all five of her chosen disciplines in Japan.
"I would definitely say coming away with being on the podium from each race would be the ideal outcome," Pascoe said after her silver medal win last week.
"After the year that's been, I'm just going to be ecstatic to walk with five medals. I've achieved so much already just getting here.
"If I walk away with that, I'll be one very happy girl, knowing that I'd done everything I possibly could to be standing where I am today."
Earlier, Pascoe's NZ teammate Jesse Reynolds missed out on a podium spot in his men's S9 100m backstroke, finishing sixth.
