PARALYMPIAN Stephen Clegg doubled his medal haul after clinching gold on the penultimate day in Paris.

The former Tranent ASC member had already won gold in the S12 100m backstroke at the Paralympic Games, which came to a close on Sunday.

And he was celebrating again as he finished on the top step of the podium in the S12 100m butterfly.

Clegg had won silver in the event at the delayed Paralympics in Tokyo in 2021.

He was up against brothers Raman and Dzmitry Salei at the Paris La Defense Arena and trailed the siblings at the halfway stage.

However, with 25m to go, Clegg held a clear lead and held off the brothers to clinch gold.

He told Scottish Swimming he felt he could have gone quicker but added: “After the 100m backstroke where I broke world record, I would have been coming here chasing that too.

“But as soon as that gold medal went round my neck, the time just wasn’t important.

“ I came here to get gold and I got the gold, so I can’t be too disappointed.”

Clegg had clinched gold in the backstroke last Saturday and then narrowly missed out on the medals in the 100m freestyle last week.

Coming home in fourth spot, the 28-year-old was just over half a second away from the gold medal.

Clegg, who is the brother of fellow para-swimmer James Clegg and para-athlete Libby Clegg, outlined the challenges he had faced in attempting to reach the top of the sport.

The former East Lothian Swim Team (ELST) member said: “As a teenager, I was in a dark place. I suffered with the idea of mediocrity and ordinary, and I didn’t like the person I was.

“As a man, I suffer with the pursuit of excellence and that’s why I’m always striving for better.

“After a race, I tend to look at the overall performance and not just the result.

“The harsh truth is that it’s really easy to sit in your own pain and never take a risk to change.

“I took the risk coming back 10 years ago and this is the reward for taking that risk.

“I came back wanting to take a shot at being a Paralympic champion.

“Not many people thought I had the discipline to do it, but here I am.

“Swimming for me has been about self-improvement.”