Shikongo wins silver in Lyon

NAMIBIA’S Ananias Shikongo collected the country’s first medal at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon when he finished second in the 200m T11 yesterday.Shikongo ran 22,71 seconds to secure silver behind defending champion Lucas Prado from Brazil. Prado, who set the world record on his way to paralympic glory in Beijing in 2008, clocked 22,55 seconds, a new championship record time.

Another Namibian, T46 athlete Elias Ndimulunde, who has been in good form heading into the championships, was also scheduled to race in a semi-final yesterday evening. The 400m final for T46 men is scheduled to take place today.

Earlier yesterday, paralympic champion Johanna Benson (29,20) made it through to the finals of the women’s 200m T37, but she could be pushed hard by home favourite Mandy Francois-Elie who stormed home in 28,35 seconds, a new world record. Defending champion Katrina Hart also made the final line-up.

Benson is expected to contest for the gold medal this evening while Albertina Johannes is also set to compete in the women’s 400m T46 final today.

Upcoming T11 female sprinter Lahja Ishitile is the last Namibian scheduled to race today. She will compete in the women’s T11 100m in the evening.

DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS

Yesterday saw 25 medal events contested at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships which opened on Friday. The event features over 1 100 athletes from nearly 100 countries and is the biggest gathering of international athletes since London 2012.

US track star Tatyana McFadden claimed her first gold medal on the second morning of competition at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, with victory in the women’s 200m T54.

Poland’s Mateusz Michalski also held on to his world title in championship record time, winning the 200m T12 after powering down the home straight to cross the line in 21,78 seconds. Fedor Trikolich and Artem Loginov picked up silver and bronze for Russia.

China’s Lisha Huang added to her 2012 Paralympic victory with gold in the women’s 200m T53. Huang clocked 29,76, a new championship record, to take the title ahead of Australia’s Angela Ballard, who had to make do with silver once again, having finished runner-up in London.

Out in the field, Poland’s Bartosz Tyszkowski took gold in the men’s shot put F41 with a personal best of 12,18m, the only athlete to throw beyond the 12m mark, while in the men’s discus F37/38, the Ukraine’s Mykola Zhabnyak managed to go one better than the silver medal he won two years ago, clinching gold with a championship best of 55,71m.

Britain’s Josie Pearson broke her own world record in the women’s discus F51/52/53, throwing 7,09m (1128 points) to add the world title to her paralympic gold medal won last year.

In the women’s shot put F55/56/57 Martina Willing won Germany’s first gold medal of the competition with a best opening throw of 9.03m (950 points).

Men’s long jump T13 gold went to paralympic champion Luis Felipe Gutierrez. The Cuban leapt 7,33m to secure victory 60cm clear of silver medallist Ihar Fartunau of Belarus. -Adapted from paralympic.org.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.