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Pascoe announces retirement from individual medley after dramatic finish to four-peat

September 2, 2021

The Kiwi champion won her fourth Paralympics gold in the event, but needed medical attention following the race.

An exhausted Sophie Pascoe has announced her golden performance in the women's 200m individual medley on Wednesday evening will be her last in the discipline after giving the race her absolute all and needing medical attention afterwards.

Pascoe became a four-time Paralympics champion in the event in Tokyo after managing to fend off Hungary's Zsofia Konkoly in the final 50 metres, giving her an 11th career gold medal and 19th medal overall.

The 28-year-old told 1 NEWS after the race the boundaries she had to break in order to keep Konkoly at bay.

“I left it all out there, and some of it on the side of the pool. That’s what a fight is all about, right, and I really wanted to make this a four-peat,” Pascoe told 1 NEWS.

“It just came down to that last 10m not breathing, and that’s the skills that [coach] Roly [Crichton] and I have been working on for many years doing this race. I can say you have witnessed my last ever 200 IM, I will be cutting the events down now, so it’s nice to finish on a positive and with a gold.”

Pascoe was able to celebrate the moment initially in the pool but after exiting, it became apparent quickly that she needed help with team coach Matt Ingram and physio Megan Munro rushing to her aid.

After they got to her poolside, Pascoe said she couldn't remember what followed.

“I remember leaving some of my insides on the side of the pool then receiving some medical treatment and it’s a bit of a blackout moment for me. I was cut out of my togs and received some oxygen and woke up, came back to the world and slowly started to get myself back.”

TOKYO, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 01: Sophie Pascoe reacts after winning the gold medal in the women's 200m - SM9 final on day 8 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on September 01, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images for New Zealand Paralympic Committee)

Pascoe thanked the Japanese medical staff who also assisted her as well as the International Paralympic Committee for "putting my welfare first" and delaying the medal ceremony until she had recovered.

She said the dramatic aftermath from the race was a new experience.

“That’s a first for me, and now it’s a last because it’s not going to happen again, in the 200 IM.

"It just came down to not breathing and giving it absolutely everything. I could feel the pain while swimming that last 50m from head to toe and I couldn’t even feel my strokes in that last 10m.

“I just knew, keep the kick compact and keep the stroke rate as high as I can, and don’t get rolled. That was the mentality in that last 10m.”

Pascoe managed to win the race in a time of 2:32.93 - seven seconds outside the world record she set in Singapore in 2019 - and while the Christchurch para swimmer is always chasing perfection, she also gave herself a little bit of slack with the time.

“I could see her coming and I just wanted it so bad, and I know that she did too. It came down to experience and that’s what got me this gold medal.

“I could say this wasn’t my best performance, and we knew this Games wasn’t going to give me my best performances. Coming here off the year that’s been, it was about making the podium, but to come away with the four-peat I’m proud of myself, I really dug deep.”

After the scary medical episode, 1 NEWS' Paralympics reporter Michelle Prendiville asked Pascoe whether she'd return to the pool with Wednesday's final being her fourth at this year's Tokyo Games having already competed in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke where she also medalled on all three occasions.

With a big grin on her face, Pascoe said she was looking forward to a return to the pool on Thursday in the 100m butterfly.

"Absolutely - not even a question!"

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