Two field world records fall at Beijing Grand Prix

China’s top Para athletes reigned supreme on the first day of competition (Saturday 13 May) at the Beijing Grand Prix as two world records fell out in the field.

Jun Wang already holds the world record in the shot put F35 and she added the javelin world record to her list of achievements with a superb throw of 28.44m in the opening round – the only mark she registered in the competition.

The 26-year-old, who won shot put gold at Rio 2016, added nearly three metres on to the previous mark of 25.59m which had stood since the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

Enlong Wei set a new world record in the men’s shot put F46, adding 11cm on to the mark set by Russia’s Nikita Prokhorov in 2013 with his huge throw of 15.80m.

Many of China’s Paralympic medallists continued to dominate, both out on the track and in the field.

Paralympic shot put champion Guoshan Wu threw a best of 42.91m to take gold in the discus F57, while in the discus F33/34 his compatriot Yanzhang Wang, a javelin F34 silver medallist at Rio 2016, managed 38.56m to seal the win.

Liwan Yang (F54) also won shot put gold at Rio 2016, adding to the javelin gold she won four years previously. The 39-year-old finished more than a metre ahead of her rivals in the women’s discus F34/53/54, sealing the win with her fourth-round throw of 18.39m.

Paralympic champion Feixia Dong won the discus F55 with her best effort of 22.61m; Juan Yao, gold medallist in the discus F44 in Rio, took the win in the shot put F44 with her 11.14m effort.

World record holder Pengkai Zhu (F12) won the men’s javelin F11/12/13 with a best effort of 53.85m; but Liangmin Zhang – who one Paralympic gold in the discus F11 last year – lost out to her teammate Huimin Zhong in the javelin F11. Zhong won with a massive 25.13m, nearly 10 metres clear of the field.

There were notable performances out in the track too.

Guohua Zhou (26.44) got the better of Cuiqing Liu (27.01) in the women’s 200m T11 – the pair won bronze and silver respectively at Rio 2016 - while in the men’s event teammate Dongdong Di (23.51) took the win ahead of Thailand’s Suphachai Songphinit (24.79).

Double Paralympic champion Jianwen Hu (23.60) secured his first win of the meeting with victory in the 200m T38 but he lost out in the long jump T38, finishing second with a best of 6.59m behind his teammate Huanghao Zhong (6.74m).

China’s T53 wheelchair racer Hongzhuan Zhou (31.15), who won three gold medals at Rio 2016, was also in winning form. The 28-year-old was a clear winner in the women’s 200m T52/53.

Another of China’s multiple Paralympic champions, Xia Zhou (T35) (30.15) took the win in the women’s 200m T35/36 ahead of fellow Rio 2016 champion and T36 sprinter Yiting Shi (30.39).

Results also went to form as Rio 2016 gold medallist Wenjun Liu (32.13) won the 200m T54, while Xiaoyan Wen (29.43) was first over the line in the women’s 200m T37 to go top of the world rankings.

There was no surprise as Paralympic 400m T12 champion Qichao Sun (23.05) won the 200m T12; it was a similar situation in the men’s 200m T35/36 as Paralympic silver medallist Yifei Yang (25.69) took the tape; victory in the T13 race went to compatriot Wei Liu (23.41).

South Korea notched up a win through Byunghoon Yoo (28.33) in the men’s 200m T52/53 and Japan struck gold through Tsuyoshi Hyakutake (28.30) in the men’s 200m T54.

The second day of competition continues on Sunday 14 May.

-ends-

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