British equestrian dressage rider Lee Pearson rode to a ninth Paralympic gold medal in a row Thursday, extending a remarkable unbeaten run at three successive Games. Pearson, undefeated at Paralympic level with three golds at the 2000 Sydney Games and three in Athens in 2004, maintained his golden streak in Hong Kong which is hosting equestrian events on behalf of Beijing. “I want to cry,” said Pearson who was born with arthrogryposis - a muscle and joint condition which has left his arms and legs badly twisted - and who has to ride wearing plastic splints running from his backside to his heels. Pearson's two other golds came in the individual championship dressage test and the team event - Britain's fourth team gold in a row, stretching back to Atlanta in 1996 when equestrian events first became part of the Paralympic Games. South African Natalie Du Toit and American Erin Popovich meanwhile kept piling on the gold medals in swimming. Du Toit, one of only two athletes who also competed in the Beijing Olympics, claimed her third gold medal of the Games, setting a world record for her disability class in the 200-meter individual medley. Du Toit swam 2 minutes, 27.83 seconds, breaking her old record by just over two seconds. Popovich, the American team captain, won her fourth Beijing Paralympic gold, taking the 400-meter freestyle. She also won gold in the 100 backstroke, 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle, and will try for two more gold medals this weekend. Popovich won seven gold in Athens, but will be limited to six this time after a relay was cut from the program. She also won three more gold medals in the Sydney games eight years ago. The two increased their tally on a day tarnished by more doping scandals and a ruling that an athlete is not disabled enough to compete. Away from the action, two powerlifters were slapped with two-year bans after traces of steroids were found in their bodies, organizers said. Facourou Sissoko, 46, a male competitor from Mali, and Ukranian female powerlifter Liudmyla Osmanova, 22, both failed pre-competition tests, the International Paralympic Committee said. The positive results bring the number of powerlifters expelled to three. Pakistani Naveed Ahmed Butt, 37, tested positive for a steroid on Sept. 4, it was announced on Tuesday. On Wednesday, German wheelchair basketball player Ahmet Coskun was kicked out of the Paralympics for taking a banned drug that can conceal performance-enhancing substances, although he insisted he took it only as a hair loss treatment. A total of 461 tests had been carried out, both in and out of competition, by the end of Tuesday. Meanwhile, Irishman Derek Malone was banned from the Games because authorities deemed him not disabled enough, Irish sports chiefs said Thursday. The Paralympic Council of Ireland (PCI) was notified this week that Malone, 28, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was ineligible to take part in the seven-a-side football tournament in Beijing. Cerebral palsy is an impairment resulting from injury to the developing brain that leads to altered neuromuscular function, but the condition can improve with athletic training, as was the case with Malone. The ruling comes after Australian athlete Jessica Gallagher was last week told she was not blind enough to compete. The controversies have taken some of the gloss of what has otherwise been a celebration of disabled sports, led by the performances of du Toit, fellow South African “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius and the dominant Chinese. Du Toit did her best to force the focus back on the pool Thursday evening, swimming 2mins 27.83secs, and finishing almost 10 seconds clear of Canada's Stephanie Dixon. The 24-year-old has already taken gold in the 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle events in her class. Du Toit is aiming for two more wins to match her gold tally at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. China stood on 33 golds late Thursday evening, six clear of Britain. But the home nation had 96 medals in total, to Britain's 57.
