BORDERER Samantha Kinghorn won a bronze medal in the T53 100m event at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo earlier today.

Spending the past year training at Middlethird Farm in Gordon paid dividends for the 25-year-old as she finished in third place with Gao Fang from China taking gold in a time of 16.29 seconds.

Her performance has left her convinced that she will pick up a gold medal in the future and she is now concentrating on the 400m heats which start tomorrow.

Afterwards a delighted Samantha told C4: “It’s been a long day waiting on the final but I can’t believe it. To come fifth in Rio and now to get bronze and the thing is, I know I’m still getting faster and I know that one day I will win gold. But it’s just learning. Every single time I am on the track I learn something and I’ve learned something else today.

“The hardest thing for me is looking up and my parents aren’t in the crowd because they are the ones I want to see the most. I’m just so chuffed to come away with the medal.

“I know I have got more in me. I know I have a sub 16 (seconds) in me and that’s the main aim. I am 25-years old and a lot of these girls on the starting line are a lot older than me and have a lot more experience and I know that every year, another winter, I’ll be stronger and stronger. Three years until Paris. (Paralympic Games)I’ll be 28 and hopefully more mature and hopefully I will be faster.

“I have the 400m heats tomorrow and I am really excited. The aim was to win a medal in the 100m and I am so pleased that I managed to do that. I feel pretty strong for the 400m and am really looking forward to it. It’s a tough distance. The lactic really hits you hard but seeing what my start is like and seeing I’m with the Chinese (contestants) at 100m it gives me some excitement for the 400m and what I can do tomorrow.”