Isaac Towers defied dizziness and injury to claim sixth in the men’s T34 800m final at Paris 2024. 

The Catterall native had made it through to his third straight Paralympic final in the event despite dealing with several health issues in the build-up to his race, 

Towers produced a late surge to climb up to sixth place, his second-best finish in the 800m at a Games. 

“Given the week we’ve had, I’ll take it,” Towers said, who is part of Aldi’s Nearest and Dearest programme in partnership with ParalympicsGB, helping to maximise support and minimise potential distractions for athletes so that they can focus on their performance. “Obviously, naturally the competitor in me always wants more.  

“But given the challenges we’ve had; I will definitely take it. 

“I’ve had a bit of shoulder trouble and headaches and dizziness and one thing and another. 

“But it is all part of the game. It was just working through it, and I would just like to say, thank you to the medical staff that have kept me going, they’ve been a great help to me.” 

Towers sat at the back of the pack for the first of the two-lap race before a making a charge as the racers came into the closing straight. 

Canadian world record holder Austin Smeenk took gold in a time of 1:39.27 with Thailand’s Chaiwat Rattana and Rheed McCracken of Australia winning silver and bronze, respectively. 

The 25-year-old finished fifth in the 800m on his Games debut in Rio 2016, before claiming seventh in Tokyo five years later. 

He was watched on in Paris by family and friends and was delighted to have crowds back cheering athletes on. 

Towers added: “My start is traditionally the weakest part of my race, always my challenge is getting on the back and trying to have a dig at them in the last lap. 

“And obviously there was a bit of argy bargy coming into the end, so I manage to pick up a couple of places towards the end but given the week we’ve had, I am more than happy with that. 

“You can sit here and make predictions all day long but you’ve just to go out there and do the best you can. 

“And I’m a big believer in just applying yourself the best you can and making the best with what you have got and that is hopefully what I have done. 

“It’s been brilliant, it is nice to have such great support from family and friends in the stadium.  

“It is nice to be a bit closer to home, there have been good crowds right through the Games this time, which, given Covid last time around it is nice to see a bit of support again.”

Aldi are proud Official Partners of Team GB & ParalympicsGB, supporting all athletes through to Paris 2024.