Last updated at 17:37, Wednesday, 10 September 2008

Newcastleton's Libby Clegg is celebrating a 100m silver medal and a new British record at the Paralympic Games in Beijing.

Libby with her medal following her presentation

She smashed her personal best with her time of 12.51seconds and vowed to win gold in London.

The 18-year old visually-impaired sprinter, who trains at Carlisle’s Sheepmount Stadium, had improved the British record in every round and it took Ukrainian world champ Oxana Boturchuk running the second fastest time in Paralympic history to beat her.

Clegg said: “The whole experience has been amazing. My family was shouting Libby, Libby, Libby.

“I'm so excited. I felt really good. I was not as nervous as I thought I would be before the start. I don't think it's hit me that I've got a silver but it's amazing.”

Clegg suffers from a deteriorative eye condition known as Stargardt's disease, which means she has only slight peripheral vision in her left eye, otherwise she is blind.

She is assisted by her guide runner, former Commonwealth silver medalist Lincoln Asquith, who is her eyes on the track.

First published at 11:51, Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk