The penultimate day of the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships saw seasoned campaigners Sam McIntosh and Cameron Crombie clinch fourth-place finishes, while the Universal 4x100m Relay team set a new national record in New Delhi.
In what could have been another heartbreaking fourth-place finish for McIntosh (VIC, Fred Periac, T52) in the 100m T52 final, the classy wheelchair racer was quick to put things into perspective post-race.
Stopping the clock in 17.25 (+0.8) to finish 0.10-seconds off the bronze medal, the four-time Paralympian took positives from the race as he sets his eyes on a fifth Paralympic Games at LA 2028.
“I’m a little bit sick of finishing fourth, that was tough. It was another one waiting for the names to pop up which I’m annoyingly all too familiar with now, but it’s a massive turnaround from where I was last year,” McIntosh said.
“This class has gotten ridiculously quick in the last year and a half. I’m really thankful for the team, there’s one person out there on the track but this whole trip has been a huge team adventure.”
Delivering his biggest throw since claiming the Shot Put F38 title in 2017, Cameron Crombie (ACT, Hamish MacDonald, F38) wound back the clock with a 15.91m effort to finish in fourth place – a result that he declared bittersweet.
“Four centimetres off, eight years later, it’s not too bad,” Crombie said.
“Like every other Para event, the class has gone through the roof in the last few years. Marty Jackson, seasoned veteran, always used to say there would be a point where someone bigger, strong or better at shot put would come along – and there’s all three out there.”
Australia made its return to the Universal 4x100m Relay with a new national record of 48.96-seconds, finishing in third place of the race with a team of Nathan Jason (QLD, Vincent Jason, T12), Lexie Brown (NSW, Zenon Kowalczyk, T47), Akeesha Snowden (SA, Lynn Larsen, T37) and Luke Bailey (NSW, Fred Periac, T54).
While the team did not receive a bronze medal due to World Para Athletics regulations with only four countries contesting the event, the quartet lapped up the experience:
“My mind is blank, I’m just so proud of everyone. I’m so happy we’ve got third and it’s most of our debuts. We cannot be any more proud to represent Australia,” 14-year-old Brown said.
16-year-old Coco Espie (NSW, Louise Sauvage, T34) rounded out her New Delhi campaign with a sixth-place finish in the 800m T34, while Jordan Fairweather (VIC, Duane Girton, T35) and Jack Netting (SA, Lynn Larsen, T35) finished in seventh and eighth placings respectively in the 100m T35 final.
Earlier in the day, the 400m T38 trio of Briseis Brittain (NT, Roger Chin, T38), Rhiannon Clarke (WA, Danny Kevan, T38) and Layla Sharp (NSW, Rob Marks, T38) all progressed to the final, while Rheed McCracken (NSW, Louise Sauvage, T34) punched his ticket to a chance at a third medal of the championships in the 800m T34.
The 2025 World Para Athletics Championships are being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, India from September 27 – October 5.
Australian viewers can tune in live and free via the Paralympic Games YouTube channel from 1:30pm AEST.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 4/10/2025
