Holly Robinson saves best until last in Paralympics javelin

As rain fell in Tokyo, New Zealand Paralympian Holly Robinson waited until her last possible opportunity to claim the gold medal in the F46 javelin at the Paralympics.

The Dunedin-based athlete is the world record holder in the F46 javelin, with a distance of 45.73m she set two years ago in Sydney.

Robinson threw 37.46m with the first of her six attempts on Friday, a 38.68m in her second throw followed by a no throw on her third.

She improved to 38.75m on her fourth, dropped to a 38.40 with her second to last throw and as the rain came down heavier Robinson’s last throw of 40.99m sealed her first Paralympic gold.

Noelle Roorda of the Netherlands threw a personal best of 40.06 metres for the silver medal and Great Britain’s Hollie Arnold took bronze with a top throw of 39.73.

Arnold had been in the lead for most of the rounds, until Robinson’s sixth throw and Arnold who was throwing last couldn’t match the New Zealander’s distance.

Robinson’s medal was New Zealand’s second on the penultimate day of competition in Japan.

Earlier at the Tokyo Stadium, Anna Grimaldi won gold in the T47 long jump.

Tokyo is Robinson’s third Paralympics. She won the silver medal at the last Paralympics in 2016 in Rio.

In March Robinson wrote herself into the record books when she became the first Para athlete to win a medal in an open event at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships, taking silver in the women’s javelin.