Paralympic champion James Turner is on top of the world in New Delhi after reclaiming his 400m crown in emphatic fashion, as wheelchair racer Rheed McCracken and javelin thrower Dayna Crees joined him on the podium for Australia.
The Australian national anthem sounded for the first time at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships on day three of competition, thanks to Turner (ACT, Iryna Dvoskina, T36) who flexed his credentials on his way to global gold number 12.
In a bid to win back the title from New Zealand’s William Stedman who defeated Turner at 2024’s Kobe edition of the championships, the world record holder had it far from all his own way when racing to a time of 52.18 to fend off new challenger Kirill Glazyrin (NPA) by just 0.07-seconds.
Pushed all the way to the line after building an early lead, the freshly crowned world champion declared that his personal redemption mission is now complete:
“It hurts! But it feels good. I might have gone out a little bit too hard but other than at, I executed pretty well,” Turner said.
“I’ve taken back the crown. It means redeeming myself from last year and proving to my coach [Iryna Dvoskina], all the support staff back in Canberra, my friends and family how serious I take this and how far I’m willing to go for it.”
Turner will return for the 100m T36 final on Friday where he is also the world record holder and reigning Paralympic champion.
Winning his first World Para Athletics Championships medal since 2019 and first global medal in the 400m since 2013, wheelchair racer Rheed McCracken (NSW, Louise Sauvage, T34) continued his flawless season when winning silver in a time of 48.67-seconds.
Defeated by only Thailand’s Chaiwat Rattana who set a world record in the heats, McCracken was all business as he turns his attention to the 100m T34 in two days’ time, where he hopes to go one better.
“I’m really happy, I gave everything. I went faster than yesterday so I couldn’t have done much more, I tried as hard as I could and I’m stoked to leave with a medal – we’ve still got the 100m to go,” McCracken said.
“I have found more consistency and made some life changes, really trying to focus more on my racing with the great team around me. Thank you to all of them who have put time and energy into me.”
Seated javelin thrower Dayna Crees (VIC, Gordon Talbot, F34) completed the medal set for Australia with bronze in the Javelin Throw F34, setting a new national record by 1.32m when launching to 18.97m in the third round.
The 23-year-old adds the medal to her Paralympic bronze from Paris, building a decorated resume at major championships:
“I threw a PB on my first throw and just kept bigger and bigger and bigger, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, it was absolutely awesome,” Crees said.
“Everybody figured that I would be back on the podium again and had that expectation. I have worked really closely with my psychologist to block out those feelings and emotions, and trust my process and trust what I have to do.”
“I wanted to throw a PB, I didn’t care about medals. I want to win a silver in LA, so getting a bronze here is just awesome.”
Rounding out the finals action was Rhiannon Clarke (WA, Danny Kevan, T38) with a seventh-place finish in the 100m T38 in a time of 13.09 (-0.6), now resetting for the 200m and 400m events later in the program.
A trio of Australian women charged out of the 100m T36 heats as Mali Lovell (NSW, Katie Edwards, T36), Kirra Wright (VIC, Craig Chapman and Jo Kampf, T36), Abby Craswell (QLD, Paul Pearce, T36) all qualified for tomorrow’s final, while wheelchair racer Sam Carter (ACT, Fred Periac, T54) served up a slick 46.91-second showing to advance to the 400m T54 final.
Earlier in the day, it was Chad Perris (ACT, Matt Beckenham, T13) who was the fastest qualifier for the 100m T13 final with a performance of 10.87 (-0.6) as Jaryd Clifford (VIC, Philo Saunders, T12) progressed to the 1500m T13 final with ease, and Jackson Love (QLD, Andrew Islein, T35) punched his ticket to the 200m T35 final in a new national record of 24.73 (-0.9).
Adding to the national records was dual sport athlete Michael Shippley (QLD, Paul Pearce, T44) who bettered his own mark with a 12.68 (-0.1) showing at his global athletics debut.
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 29/09/2025
