18.11.2007

New world records for O'Hanlon, Wolf

Talented pair Evan O’Hanlon and Christine Wolf have done their Beijing prospects no harm with new world records at the ACT Athletics Open AWD Championships on Saturday.

O’Hanlon, 19, continues a remarkable progression that consolidates his position as the globe’s fastest T38 (cerebral palsy) athlete over 100m in setting a new standard of 11.18 (+1.3).

It was his own mark of 11.31 (+0.1), set in Canberra in March, that O’Hanlon bettered.

Coached by Iryna Dvoskina at the Australian Institute of Sport, O’Hanlon also holds the world record for the 200m and is certainly showing glimpses of nine-time Paralympic gold medallist Tim Sullivan - Australia’s most decorated AWD sprinter.

Another Dvoskina-coached athlete, Wolf set a new world mark of 3.92m (+0.9) in the F42 (single knee amputee) long jump.

Wolf, also a leading sprinter, represented Germany at the 2004 Paralympic Games but made her Australian debut at last year’s IPC World Championships in Assen, Holland.

A resident at the AIS since 2005, Wolf has improved significantly in the pit since claiming the silver medal in Athens.

Competition, which also incorporates the AWD Underage Championships, continues today after a very successful opener that saw nine new Australian records and two national under-20, four under-18, five under-16 and three under-14 records.