Blackpool-born Isaac Towers powers into wheelchair 800m final for GB at Tokyo Paralympics

Blackpool-born wheelchair athlete Isaac Towers powered through to tomorrow's final of the T34 800m at the Tokyo Paralympics in impressive style.
By Andy Moore
Published 3rd Sep 2021, 08:33 BST
Updated 3rd Sep 2021, 08:36 BST
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The Catterall-based 22-year-old finished second in his heat at a wet Olympic Stadium track in a season's best time of 1.46.58.

The winner was defending champion Mohamed Alhammadi of UAE in 1.45.50, while Finland's Henry Manni took the third automatic qualifying spot in 1.46.84.

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Towers was faster than all the athletes in the other heat, won by the Tunisian world record holder Walid Kitali in a time one hundredth of a second behind the Lancastrian's.

Mohamed Alhammadi (centre) wins the first heat of the T34 800m in Tokyo with Lancastrian Isaac Towers (left) secondMohamed Alhammadi (centre) wins the first heat of the T34 800m in Tokyo with Lancastrian Isaac Towers (left) second
Mohamed Alhammadi (centre) wins the first heat of the T34 800m in Tokyo with Lancastrian Isaac Towers (left) second

Towers' GB teammate Ben Rowlings was fourth in that second heat in 1.48.21, taking the last qualifying place for the final, which is scheduled for 1.55am UK time tomorrow.

Former AKS and Cardinal Newman College pupil Towers, who finished fifth in the 2016 final in Rio, is aiming for a first Paralympic medal to add to his five from European Championships and his Para World Championships bronze from 2017. Those European medals included gold in Italy five years ago.

Towers is competing in the 800m only in Japan as his other distances – the 200m and 400m – do not feature at the Paralympics in Isaac's category.

The T34 category is for athletes with cerebral palsy.

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