Richard Browne (second from left) of the USA completed a sprint double as he won the Men’s 100m T44 event yesterday. PICTURES: Mamdouh
By Sports Reporter
Doha
The marquee evening of the Doha 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships did not disappoint as the 100m events saw three athletes complete their 100m, 200m sprint doubles with double world records. An incredible six further world records fell on the eighth day of competition as the athletes continue to inspire and amaze.
First up was ‘Blade Babe’ Marlou van Rhijn of The Netherlands in the Women’s 100m T44. The reigning Paralympic and World Champion faced stiff competition from Marie-Amelie le Fur of France, who had already won the 400m and long jump T44 competitions but van Rhijn continued her dominance in the shorter sprint events as she stormed to victory in a time of 12.80s, breaking her own world record. Le Fur finished second in a time of 13.12 and Nyoshia Cain of Trinidad and Tobago finished third to win their country’s second medal of the Championships.
Speaking after her win, van Rhijn said: “It’s been amazing here! I have been so looking forward to these Championships, and it is a massive stepping stone to Rio 2016. I would have liked to have started faster but I had loads of power left in the last bit and I was able to use it.”
In the Women’s 100m T35, 14-year-old Isis Holt sealed her place as the new star of para-athletics as she won her second gold and broke her second world record in Doha. The youngster only took up para-athletics last year and had never left Australia before coming to Doha. She ran 13.63s to beat fellow teenage talent, 15-year-old Maria Lyle of Great Britain into silver medal position for the second time of these World Championships. Holt’s team-mate Brianna Coop of Australia finished in third.
Speaking after winning her second title, Holt said: “When I boarded that plane to Doha, winning gold medals and breaking world records was the last thing on my mind. To be here has been a fantastic experience for me, and today I got to see the results of months of hard work. It is amazing and I just can’t believe it.”
Richard Browne of the USA completed the third sprint double of the evening as he ran away from the field to convincingly win the Men’s 100m T44, smashing the world record with a time of 10.61s. Arnu Fourie of South Africa took the silver medal in 10.93s and Brazil’s Alan Oliveira, the reigning World Champion coming into the race, had to settle for bronze in 11.02. With former world-record holder, Jarryd Wallace of the USA, and reigning Paralympic Champion, Jonnie Peacock of Great Britain missing from these World Championships due to injury, the future of the Men’s sprint T44 events is incredibly exciting.
Speaking following his victory, Browne said: “I am really happy to break the world record again and to be World Champion. I actually wanted to go faster than what I did, I thought I had a bit of a slow start. Now I am looking forward to the relay with Team USA, and then it is on to Rio where I want to repeat this wonderful Doha experience. I want to get a way better time and keep improving. I would love to get an able-bodied time and will definitely look to compete against some of them to test myself, but now it’s time to celebrate!”
The mind-blowing results continued in the Women’s 200m T38 final as Margarita Goncharova of Russia completed a hat-trick of titles in Doha with her second world record. Goncharova surged ahead of Great Britain’s Sophie Hahn in the final metres to take gold in a time of 26.61. Junfei Chen of China took bronze. Goncharova’s previous victories came in the 400m and long jump, with bronze in the 100m. With the 4x100m still to come, Goncharova could bring home four medals from Doha.
Speaking after the 200m, Goncharova said: “I am in shock, I can’t believe it! I have won my third gold medal and I have broken the world record! I am so happy, just look at my time, I am lost for words.”
Yet another athlete to complete a hat-trick of titles tonight was Brent Lakatos of Canada when he accelerated away from the field to win the Men’s 800m T53 final. Lakatos is on track to match his Lyon 2013 performance of three golds and one silver with the 4x400m still to come on.
The evening had earlier got off to a world-record breaking start when Martina Caironi of Italy broke the Women’s 100m T42 world record in heat one in a time of 15.01, narrowly missing the 15 second barrier. She will line up against Vanessa Low of Germany, who broke the long jump world record earlier in the Championships, in tomorrow night’s final at 16:08 for an exciting showdown between the two para-athletics stars. The final world record of the night came in the Men’s long jump T37 when Guangxu Shang of China jumped 6.47m.
The evening’s action finished with further disappointment for Morocco’s three times World Champion from 2013 and reigning Paralympic Champion, El Amin Chentouf in the Men’s 5,000m T13 final. Having finished a surprise third in the 10,000m Chentouf was hoping to redeem himself in 5,000m. With an unbeatable lead with 600m to go, Chentouf crashed out and could not continue. The race was left open for Canada’s Guillaume Ouellet to run home to victory with a clear lead ahead of Spain’s Alberto Suarez Laso and Youssef Benibrahim of Morocco.
Speaking after becoming World Champion, Ouellet said: “I’ve had a really good year with training and competitions. I felt I was in great shape, and in the last few laps I just kept speeding up. I saw that Chentouf was slowing down each lap, but I kept focusing and thankfully I can now call myself the World Champion. I can’t wait to hear the national anthem on the podium – it’s the stuff of dreams.”
