Mr England Jack Eyers adds silver to Britain’s Paralympic canoe haul

Former Mr England Jack Eyers continued his journey from catwalk to canoe by clinching silver on his Paralympic debut in Paris.

The chiselled 35-year-old amputee caught the eye in a time of 47.87 seconds in the men’s VL3 va’a but was denied the title by Ukraine’s Vladyslav Yepifanov.

Charlotte Henshaw and Emma Wiggs earlier delivered a British one-two with gold and silver in the women’s KL2 kayak before Laura Sugar retained the women’s KL3 title.

Double world champion Eyers, who underwent surgery on his right leg aged just 16, became the first amputee to be crowned Mr England, in 2017, and has also modelled at London and New York fashion weeks.

He was determined to make a splash in France after being devastated to agonisingly miss out on selection for the last Games.

Eyers turned heads as fastest qualifier from the two semi-finals on Sunday morning at Vaires-sur-Marne Stadium.

But Yepifanov, who booked his spot in the medal race by winning one of the initial heats on Friday, then grabbed top spot on the podium. His Paralympic record of 47.49 secs was 0.38 secs faster than the Briton.

Eyers said: “It was pretty epic. I was here this time last year for the test event and I massively underperformed.

“The goal was always to start para canoe and to become a Paralympian.

“I’ve now completed the set with Europeans, world cup, world championships and now Paralympics. Job done – (I’m) so pleased, so happy, just content.”

Eyers, from Bournemouth, was born with a condition called proximal femoral focal deficiency, which affected his hip, knee and femur.

He was advised to wait until he was 18 and had stopped growing to undergo surgery but convinced doctors to amputate his leg above the knee two years early.

Since the operation, Eyers has been “ripped apart by werewolves” and “blown up” in horror films after joining a film-set agency specifically for amputees, while he performed an acrobatic role in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympics.

He later joined a modelling agency – Models of Diversity – which paved the way to becoming a cover star for Men’s Health magazine, in addition to beauty pageant glory.

Second place for Eyers moved ParalympicsGB on to 124 medals – 49 gold, 44 silver and 31 bronze.

The haul matches the team’s total from Tokyo 2020, albeit there have been eight more golds this time around, helped by the exploits of Henshaw and Sugar.

In a repeat of the result in Japan, former swimmer Henshaw outshone team-mate Wiggs, powering over the line in a Paralympic record of 49.07 secs to win by 2.49 secs and secure her second gold in Paris following Saturday’s triumph in the VL3 va’a.

Sugar’s sweet success also included a Games record. The 33-year-old finished in 46.66 secs, 1.25 secs clear of France’s Nelia Barbosa.

Earlier, wheelchair racer David Weir announced his retirement from Paralympic competition after finishing fifth in the men’s T54 marathon.

The 45-year-old won six Paralympic gold medals, including four at London 2012, having made his debut aged 17 at Atlanta in 1996.

“It was quite emotional at the end because this will be my last race for GB,” said Weir after posting a time of one hour, 33 minutes and 27 seconds.

“I’ll still do the major marathons, I still enjoy doing them, but it’ll be my last international. My body just couldn’t cope with it today. It’s an age thing, I was the oldest in the field.

“I am still highly competitive and still trying to beat Daniel (Romanchuk, 26-year-old American athlete who finished fourth) who is half my age, I could be his dad! I’m still doing all right. I gave it my all today.”

British athlete Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not finish the women’s T54 marathon.