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Woods: Just missed out on third medal
My ambition now is to win a Paralympic gold medal - I want one of those. Hopefully in the next four years I'll get stronger, faster and a bit wiser.
Shelly Woods
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Paralympic hero Shelly Woods is looking forward to London glory after her dreams of gaining a third medal in her debut games ended.
The 22-year-old from Blackpool finished fourth in the women's T54 marathon and narrowly missed out on claiming a bronze.
She clocked a time of 1hr 40mins 03secs and was only four seconds off Swiss winner Edith Hunkeler, yet Woods is more than happy with her performances in Beijing and has her sights firmly set on London in four years time.
"To win two medals at my first Paralympics is fantastic, beyond my wildest dreams, but I'm looking to London 2012," she said.
"My ambition now is to win a Paralympic gold medal - I want one of those. Hopefully in the next four years I'll get stronger, faster and a bit wiser."
The 2007 London marathon winner has endured mixed emotions during her time in Beijing.
A crash involving more than half of the field on the penultimate lap led to a rerun of the 5,000m, where Woods had initially finished second.
Rules state that races should only be re-started if a crash occurs in the first 200m, and Woods had to settle for bronze.
"It wasn't a good thing to happen, especially being my first race and it was hard to deal with, but I just got on with it," she said.
"It's been an experience. I've learnt a few things about myself and I've had to deal with that situation, it was totally new to me."
Marathon
Woods finished fourth in the women's marathon and found the flat but technical course to be challenging.
"It was tough out there, I did my best and fourth was my best today. I did everything well and they just had more speed into the finish. As soon as the last two k (kilometres) began, the pace hotted up," she said.
Woods also praised British wheelchair racer David Weir after he won his second goal - Britain's only gold's on the athletics track- of the games to add to his impressive medal collection.
Weir has had to deal with a gruelling schedule, as well as a protest that initially denied him 800m gold before the decision was overturned.
"From what Dave's been through this week, to win two gold's is brilliant," added Woods.
"I think the team have done a fantastic job, but hopefully in 2012 we can do better."
