Repeat success for China’s Na Mi

Gold medals in women's discus and shot put F37 for Chinese athlete 06 Sep 2012

"I thought about the world record before the event, but I wasn't really expecting it in my first throw."

China’s Na Mi has successfully defended her 2008 Beijing gold medals with repeat results in the women’s discus and shot put F37 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Mi achieved a massive 35.35m distance in the discus F37 final with her first throw to beat the world record she set in Beijing, just two days after achieving the same feat in the shot put final. She will now leave London with at least two gold medals and two new world records ahead of the javelin final.

"I prepared very well but, because my competition was today, I have spent most of the week waiting anxiously to start my event,” said Mi. “I thought about the world record before the event, but I wasn't really expecting it in my first throw. The first throw of 35.35 was a great result."

Former men’s shot put F40 world record holder Paschalis Stathelakos was made to take the bronze medal at London 2012 as Zhiming Wang of China achieved a staggering distance of 14.46m and a new world record to take the gold. Algeria’s Hocine Gherzouli won the silver medal.

Algeria’s Mohamed Berrahal broke the F51 word record in the final of the men’s discus 51/52/53 field event with a 12.37m distance to claim the title from previous holder Joze Flere of Slovenia.

Aigars Apinis of Latvia reset his world record for the F52 classification with 21.00m to pick up the silver medal following the calculation of the points score. Mohamed Zemzemi, 21, received his first Paralympic medal as he won bronze with a personal best distance of 11.34m.

In the men’s triple jump F11, Russia’s Denis Gulin beat world record holder Duan Li from China to the gold medal, leaving the 2008 Beijing champion to collect the silver.

Jason Smyth of Ireland was just 0.05 seconds off his world record set in Beijing when he comfortably finished as the quickest qualifier in the men’s 200m T13 heats. Alexander Zverev of Russia was second fastest, closely followed by Luis Felipe Gutierrez of Cuba.

Home crowd favourite Hannah Cockroft continued to break records at the Olympic stadium in the women’s 200m T34 heats as she eased across the finish line in 33.20 to set a new Paralympic record before the final. Cockroft is joined by ParalympicsGB teammate Melissa Nicholls along with Australia’s Rosemary Little and Amy Siemons of the Netherlands.

Seasonal best performances for China’s Junfei Chen, Germany’s Tamira Slaby and Inna Stryzhak of Ukraine ensured the athletes advanced to the final of the women’s 200m T38 event. Stryzhak has already won and bronze and silver medals at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and now the world record holder sets her sights on winning gold.

Lihong Zou of China generated the fastest time in the women’s 1500m T54 heats to move straight through to the final. She is joined by Switzerland’s Edith Wolf, US star Tatyana McFadden and Diane Roy of Canada. World record holder Shelly Woods of Great Britain and teammate Jade Jones also progress to the final of the women’s 1500m T54.

Assia El Hannouni of France posed for the cameras after completing the women’s 200m T12 heats with a new world record time of 24.80, equal to Daqing Zhu of China, and the pair will now share the coveted title.

In the women’s 400m T37, Tunisia’s Neda Bahi qualified with a personal best time of 1:07.49 to finish as the overall fastest from the heats. She is joined in the final by Ukrainians Maryna Snisar and Viktoriya Kravchenko along with Russia’s Evgeniya Trushnikova.

Austria’s Gunther Matzinger qualified in the fastest time for the men’s 800m T46 final, closely followed by Samir Nouioua of Algeria and Abraham Tarbei of Kenya. World record holder and Beijing champion Marcin Awizen of Poland failed to qualify for the final after finishing seventh in the second heat and 15th overall.

Yohansson Nascimento of Brazil qualified in the fastest time for the men’s 100m T46 final closely followed by Raciel Gonzalez Isidoria from Cuba.