Sports

Juneau man earns silver at Paralympics

 
Close calls were the order of the day for Alaska’s Paralympians on the final day of competition Sunday in Rio de Janeiro.
Seth McBride of Juneau was part of a gold-medal overtime wheelchair rugby match, and Shirley Reilly of Barrow was part of a tightly contested wheelchair marathon decided by a photo finish.
McBride, 33, completed his set of Paralympic medals by picking up a silver to go with his gold from 2008 and his bronze from 2012.
Reilly, 31, missed a medal by one second in the women’s wheelchair marathon. The defending gold medalist in the event, Reilly placed fifth, one second away from the bronze and two seconds away from gold or silver.
Three seconds separated the top seven women at the end of the 26.2-mile marathon that took racers along Copacabana Beach.
China’s Lihong Zou claimed gold in 1 hour, 38 minutes, 44 seconds, the winner of a photo finish over Tatyana McFadden of the United States, who clocked the same time.
Bronze went to Amanda McGrory of the United States in 1:38:45, the same time recorded by fourth-place Wakaka Tsuchid of Japan.
In fifth place in 1:38:45 was Reilly, the defending gold medalist. The sixth-place finisher matched Reilly’s time. Reilly, who won three medals in 2012, will leave Rio with one, a bronze medal in the 800 meters.
In Sunday’s gold-medal rugby match, McBride and his American teammates dropped a 59-58 overtime decision to Australia.
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