WORLD PARA ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS DUBAI - DAY 4 RECAP
Published Mon 11 Nov 2019
Australia had its most successful day at the 9th World Para-Athletics Championships collecting three medals including a world record-breaking performance from sprinter James Turner.
Along with his gold, plus silvers to discus thrower Sarah Edmiston, and wheelchair racer Rheed McCracken, Australia surged up the Dubai medal table from 7th to 4th position – 3 gold, 3 silver - after four days of competition with five still to go.
Turner, who qualified fourth fastest for the 100m (T36) final in 12.03s, smashed that heat time and broke Mohamad Puzi’s world record (11.87s) by clocking 11.72s. Puzi (Malaysia) ended up with the bronze, and Yang Yifei (China) the silver.
“It feels amazing. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, as it was over so quickly,” Turner said. “I actually didn’t know about the world record until the Canadians told me.”
That is probably due to the fact Turner just kept accelerating along the Dubai track passing three competitors on his way to the finish line.
“Everything went exactly to plan. My coach Iryna (Dvoskina) saw to that. We’ve been practising very hard and I couldn’t have done it without her. She’s put a lot of hard work into me.”
Turner virtually picked up from where he left off at the last world championships – in London two years ago he took three golds (200m, 400m, 800m).
In Dubai he has committed himself to the 100m and 400m as they are the events on the Tokyo Paralympic Games program for his cerebral palsy class.
For Edmiston, there’s a shaft of pain through her right knee every time she throws. But a silver medal in discus (T64) at her first world championships eases a lot of the discomfort.
Edmiston, who damaged nerves in her leg waterskiing as a 19-year-old, recorded 36.42 metres on her first attempt to jump into silver medal position behind China’s Yao Juan (38.78m).
“I never looked back. It’s really good I did that as the competition went for so long, and we were delayed starting (by half-hour), so it was great to get a good throw out there first up,” she said.
“The legs got a little bit tired there towards the end. But I’m just so happy. It’s been a really long two years of training.”
She did improve the distance a smidge with a 36.43m with her third throw to lock silver into place.
Edmiston is coached by husband Paul with some extra help from former Australian throws coach John Eden, who was trackside in Dubai yelling encouragement dressed in a New Zealand polo shirt as he now works for his native country with their athletics team.
“Someone had to be home looking after the kids so it’s unfortunate Paul couldn’t be here. But we’ve been working with John since just after London (2017 worlds),” she said.
And there’s been some rapid improvement in two years. Edmiston finished 7th in the final there.
“The technical stuff she’s doing so well already,” Eden said.
“So for Tokyo she is right on the money. She’s only got to chase two metres and she can do that.”
You would be forgiven for thinking McCracken is tiring of finishing with silver medals in the 100m (T34) class. He has two from the Paralympics Games (2012, 2016) and now three from the worlds (2013, 2017, 2019).
“It does feel a bit that way doesn’t it,” McCracken said, as the gold medal remains elusive for him.
“It’s hard because I feel so happy to be on the podium, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I felt I was in really good form this year. I suppose you’re never too sure how things will pan out with Walid (Ktila).
The Tunisian finished with gold (14.99) ahead of McCracken (15.51) which is the same finishing order as the London worlds two years ago.
“I got a win over him earlier this year so I thought that put me in good stead. It’s just one of those things. I’m still happy to be in second spot because I know lots of people would kill to have a silver medal.”
Robyn Lambird’s women’s 100m (T34) final didn’t go exactly to plan, with a 5th placing in 19.73s.
“The time is not perfect for me. I came into this comp third in the world so I would have liked to have done a bit better… maybe nerves and all,” she said.
“I spent the majority of the season racing myself at home so to come to a world titles is a bit different.”
It is also Lambird’s maiden international debut and she is already part of history. The winner of the T34 final, Britain’s Hannah Cockroft, broke the world record (16.80s) with a 16.77 push.
“That’s kind of special. I just wanted to come out, have a good race and put it all on the track,” Lambird said, who is British-born but raised in Perth.
“I think I just need a little more preparation in the warm-up. I rushed things a bit. But I’ll be working really hard to get that spot for Tokyo and win a medal.”
Brianna Coop finished 5th in the women’s 100m (T35) final. She finished 4th in this event in London but has been battling a stress fracture in her foot, which has kept her off the track for three weeks.
“We were at least able to maintain everything but I couldn’t build on it unfortunately,” she said of her preparation with coach Wayne Leaver.
“It was never going to stop me racing, it was a case of how can we work around it.”
Coop was competing in the event in which Australia’s Isis Holt won gold at the London worlds two years ago. Holt is doing her final year high-school exams so had to bypass Dubai.
Madison De Rozario and Eliza Ault-Connell are both through to Monday night’s 1500m (T54) final after heat times of 3m:28.29 and 3:32.88 respectively.
It was de Rozario’s first race in Dubai and she landed in a quality heat.
“We had two world champions lining up with Catherine (Debrunner, Switz) and Lihong (Zou, China) having already won gold medals here, so it was an interesting field with everyone having different skills,” she said.
De Rozario has her own claim to fame. She was bronze medallist in this event at the last worlds in London 2017 but took the 1500m world record in Switzerland in May 2018.
Ault-Connell is now into her third final in four days of racing, by adding the 1500m to the 100m and 800m earlier in the nine-day program.
-ENDS
Michael Angus
michael.angus@athletics.org.au
Margie McDonald
mcdonaldmargie58@gmail.com
