2019 Top Moments - No. 1: Ferreira, Floors top the chart with fastest times

Petrucio Ferreira and Johannes Floors made history at the Dubai 2019 World Para Athletics Championships as the fastest ever, reaching the first place of the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC’s) Top 10 Moments of 2019.

Brazilian Ferreira has quite a track record of performing in the big meets and Dubai 2019 was no exception.

Ferreira set the two fastest times ever in a 100m race of a major Para athletics championships, including running a new world record time of 10.42 seconds in the morning heats.

He won the 100m T47 gold medal in Dubai and proved again the sky’s the limit.

Ferreira posed like he was Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt, with his right elbow behind his back and his left arm pointing to the sky to celebrate another masterful performance.

Ferreira was ecstatic after the race while he shared the podium with two teammates from Brazil, Washington Junior and Yohansson Nascimento.

He has now set himself up as the clear favourite to defend his gold medal in the event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

“This is a moment of total happiness for the country and for us. Top three podium for Brazil and all three of us qualified to Tokyo 2020, can’t ask for more.”

In his home country at Rio 2016, Ferreira won gold coming from behind with an incredible finish to set what was then a world record.

The following year at the World Championships in London, he dominated the 100m race and bettered his record time in the process.

Ferreira wasn’t the only speed demon in Dubai.

Imagen

Germany’s Johannes Floors is another who took aim at the record books there, setting two new world records of his own.

Floors set a blistering fast pace in the 100m T64 event, running the fastest time in history in one of his heats (10.54).  He later completely dominated the final (10.60) to win gold.  

After the race, he was asked if there is more left in the tank to go even faster.

“I don’t want to say that I will be running under 10.40 because that just comes with training.”
 
That race was just a sign of things to come for Floors at the World Championships.

A few days later in the 400m T62 final, Floors set a new world record in that event as well (45.78)

Floors, who is a double amputee below the knees, runs on two prosthetic legs.  Many often refer to him as the “new Blade Runner”.
 
Floors will join Ferreira with his sights set on more gold and perhaps more records next year in Tokyo.