100 Meter World Record is Broken

American athlete, Brian Frasure, shattered the men's 100M single below-the-knee amputee (class T44) world record with a time of 11.33 sec. on October 29 1999 at the Southern Cross Games held in Sydney, Australia. The previous record, 11.36 sec., had been held by Tony Volpentest of the United States since the 1996 Paralympic Games.

Brian, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina (USA),trains year-round with able-bodied women's Athletics world champion, Marion Jones. He is also a licensed prosthetist and instructs amputee running clinics worldwide.

Brian stated: "I want to be the first lower-extremity amputee to break the 11.00 mark", and he might not be so far from doing just that. In 1998, he ran an 11.02 sec. (unsanctioned) during an exhibition race at the U.S. National Track & Field Championships in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The T44 100M will be one of the many exciting events to watch at the upcoming Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. The heat is on!

Coming Up: Winter Sport World Championships

Just, when it is half-time between Paralympic Winter Games, winter sport athletes hold their world championships. The VIth International Alpine and Cross-Country Ski Championships for the Disabled take place in Anzère/Crans Montana January 27 to February 5. Athletes from more than 25 countries have registered for the competitions.

The 2000 Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships in Salt Lake City will be the first official event in preparation for the Paralympic Winter Games in 2002. They will be held March 20 to 25 2000, featuring teams from the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Japan and Great Britain. During the championships, the mascot for the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games will be publicly unveiled.

The April issue of the Paralympian will report on these events thoroughly.