PARIS: Brazil’s Rayane Soares, Nurkhon, Nurkhon Kurbanova of Uzbekistan and Dutchwoman Lara Baars lit up the Stade de France on a record-laden morning on Saturday.

Soares smashed a 29-year-old world record to win the women’s 400m T13 gold, clocking 53.55 seconds to grab her second medal at Paris after a silver in the 100m T13. The previous mark (54.46) was set by USA’s Marla Runyan in January 1995 in Los Angeles, home to the next Paralympics.

There was also a world record for Uzbekistan as Kurbanova took gold in the women’s javelin F54. And James Turner of Australia grabbed “redemption” for a messed up start in Tokyo as he ran a Paralympic record to add the men’s 100m T36 gold to his 400m victory.

The women’s shot put F40 saw another first-time Paralympic champion with Baars of the Netherlands setting a Paralympic record on her way to gold (9.10m) while wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk of Canada won the men’s T51 800m

It was also a memorable morning for British cyclist Fin Graham as he claimed his first Paralympic gold by powering to victory in the men’s C1-3 road race.

Scottish rider Graham, a silver medallist in the event on his Games debut in Tokyo, took the crown ahead of French pair Thomas Peyroton-Dartet and Alexandre Leaute in a time of one hour, 43 minutes and 19 seconds.

On Friday, Hunter Woodhall, the double amputee sprinter who is one half of an Olympic-Paralympic power couple, charged to gold in the T62 400m.

American Woodhall, who is married to Olympic women’s long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall, timed 46.36sec to beat world record holder Johannes Floors of Germany by two metres and then ran straight into the arms of his wife who was trackside in the Stade de France.

It was a reversal of the roles when Davis-Woodhall won Olympic gold in the same stadium on August 8 and joyously embraced her watching husband.

In wheelchair tennis, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won gold for Britain in the men’s doubles final, beating Japanese pair Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda 6-2, 6-1 on the clay of Roland Garros.

In other athletics action, double amputee Dutch sprinter Fleur Jong added the T64 women’s 100m gold to the long jump title she won earlier in these Games. She led home Dutch team-mates Kimberly Alkemade and Marlene van Gansewinkel for the first clean sweep by one country of any athletics event at the Paris Games.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2024