Swiss wheelchair racing sensation Catherine Debrunner has etched her name in history at the ongoing World Para Athletics Championships, becoming the first athlete to clinch a remarkable hat-trick of world titles. Her dominant performance on the track shone brightly, even amidst a quieter atmosphere at the venue, largely due to a limited Indian presence.
With only a couple of Indian athletes reaching the finals, the global stage was set for international stars, and Catherine seized the opportunity with both hands. She masterfully added the 1500m T54 gold to her existing 5000m and 800m T53 titles, setting a new championship record of 3:16.81 in the process. With two sprint events still to come, Debrunner is on track to potentially complete an extraordinary quintet of gold medals.
Beyond Debrunner’s heroics, other exceptional performances captivated audiences. Russia’s Vladimir Sviridov, a world record holder himself, established a new championship record in the F36 shot put with a mighty 17.01m throw on his final attempt, narrowly surpassing Tunisia’s reigning champion, Yassine Guenichi.
The morning session also saw Hungary’s Luca Ekler shatter the world record in the women’s long jump T38 with an impressive leap of 5.91m. Later in the evening, USA’s Jaydin Blackwell pushed his own limits, improving his world record to a blistering 48 seconds in the men’s 400m T38 event.
Meanwhile, for India, Suchitra Parida secured a respectable 6th-place finish in the javelin throw F56, achieving a personal best of 18.29m. However, her performance was preceded by an official warning and a yellow card for equipment non-compliance under rule 6.16.1. In another event, Akira Banothu finished seventh in the men’s 400m T38, clocking a time of 51.16s.
Here’s a summary of the day’s notable results:
Men:
100m T34: Chaiwat Rattana (Thailand, 15.00s)
400m T38: Jaydin Blackwell (USA, 48.00s), Akira Banothu (India, 7th place, 51.16s)
400m T52: Tomoki Sato (Japan, 54.21s)
800m T20: Ndiaga Dieng (Italy, 1:53.91)
5000m T13: Aleksandr Kostin with guide Iurii Kloptsov (NPA, 15:08.97)
Long Jump T13: Ivan Blanco (Spain, 7.11m)
Shot Put F20: Oleksandr Yarovyi (Ukraine, 17.73m)
Shot Put F32: Jasur Khodjaev (Uzbekistan, 9.96m)
Shot Put F36: Vladimir Sviridov (NPA, 17.01m)
Javelin Throw F38: Jose Rivas (Colombia, 60.94m)
Women:
100m T11: Jerusa Geber with guide Gabriel Garcia (Brazil, 11.81s)
100m T34: Hannah Cockroft (Great Britain, 17.28s)
100m T37: Xiaoyan Wen (China, 12.93s)
100m T44: Victoria Levitt (Great Britain, 13.22s)
100m T63: Ambra Sabatini (Italy, 14.39s)
100m T64: Fleur Jong (Netherlands, 12.29s)
400m T12: Anna Kulinich-Sorokina with guide Ilia Goncharov (NPA, 56.38s)
1500m T54: Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland, 3:16.81)
Long Jump T38: Luca Ekler (Hungary, 5.91m)
Discus Throw F11: Enhui Xue (China, 39.51m)
Javelin Throw F54: Elham Salehi (Iran, 17.06m)
Javelin Throw F56: Diana Krumina (Latvia, 26.18m), Suchitra Parida (India, 6th place, 18.29m)