Bethany Firth had no doubt who to thank for her second gold medal at the Rio Paralympic Games.

Almost before catching her breath, Firth, from Northern Ireland, raised her eyes and praised God.

Firth set a new Paralympic record when she won second Rio gold ahead of Jessica-Jane Applegate in the S14 200m freestyle. S14 is the class for people with an intellectual impairment. It was her second gold in the games.

As she took a moment to tread water after the race, she closed her hands in prayer, looked up and said: "Thank you God, thank you."

In her post-race interview she continued: "I'm just so thankful it all came together. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone back home, the church, my family, everyone supporting me, and sending me so many lovely messages."

Bethany, one of four children of a Baptist minister who went on to become a religious education lecturer, also thanked God afer her first gold medal, the Belfast Telegraph reported. 

"I'm so chuffed with that but I couldn't have done it without the support of everyone back home - especially my church and my family," she said. "God puts challenges in your way but shows you a path if you work hard and put your mind to it. Hopefully there's many more medals to come for the rest of the team.

"I'm so happy with that swim, but it's not just me, it's all the people that have supported me like my coaches, GB, my friends and family and my church back home. All of them have helped me to get here and I'm just so happy about that."