Longfield wheelchair sprinter Stephen Osborne misses out on Paralympic medal (From News Shopper)

Longfield wheelchair sprinter Stephen Osborne misses out on Paralympic medal

3:18pm Tuesday 4th September 2012 in News By Alan Woods

LONGFIELD Paralympic wheelchair sprinter Stephen Osborne narrowly missed out on a medal last night (September 3).

The 49-year-old finished in fifth place in the T51 100m final, missing out on a medal by 0.43 seconds.

Stephen, who has a spinal chord injury, finished with a time of 23.40 seconds.

Speaking after the race, he said: “I enjoyed it, I really did. I want some more. I want to keep going through to Rio.

“I’ve only been doing this a year and I think that this has come a bit early, but I enjoyed it.”

Stephen, a professional carpenter, previously competed in wheelchair rugby and was only introduced to athletics by a friend last year.

Finland’s Toni Piispanen won the T51 100m race with a Paralympic record, clocking a time of 21.71 seconds.