Berlin 2018: Field world records fall

Three world records fell in the field on Friday (24 August) at Berlin 2018 as Poland continued to excel, winning a further six European golds.

Home favourite Birgit Kober’s massive third-round effort of 11.79m in the women’s shot put F37 added more than 20 centimetres on to her previous best F36 best set just last month.

“I’m feeling great, a gold medal and world record, what more would you like! The world record I wanted to do but I didn’t know if I could. And now I have the world record I am really happy,” said the now four-time European champion.

Kober’s world record was not the only success story for the host nation on day five in Berlin as the men’s 4x100m T42-47/61-64 relay quartet – Phil Grolla, Felix Streng, Markus Rehm and Johannes Floors – stormed to gold with a new championships record (41.42).

Floors, who brought home the baton for the reigning world champions, said: “It’s awesome, the weather conditions were pretty tough so it was difficult to calculate but I think we made the best of it and gold with a personal best, it’s perfect.

Felix Streng, who ran the second leg, added: “I think we are a good team, nobody beat us last year and I think we are strong runners. I think we will improve and improve and improve like we always do.”

Teammate Nicole Nicoleitzik (15.60) could not contain her excitement as she crossed the line first in the women’s 100m T36, punching the air in delight.

“I always dreamed of gold, but two of them, that's insane,” said Nicoleitzik, who won 200m T36 gold on Wednesday.

“The race was pretty close, I felt her breath in my neck. The tactic was to run fast from the beginning, otherwise I lose. Sprinting is what I’m made for. In the future I’ll try running my personal best but a medal in Dubai (at the World Championships), that would be great of course!”

Six of the best for Poland

It was a highly profitable evening of track and field for Poland, who continue to sit top of the Berlin 2018 medals table with 19 golds, 12 silver and 15 bronze so far.

Lucyna Kornobys (16.22m) set a new javelin F33 world record as she claimed bronze in the javelin F34 – an event won by Finland’s F34 Para athlete Marjaana Heikkinen, who threw a best of 18.79m.

World number one Joanna Mazur (5:14.99) was first out on the track and cruised home to a straightforward win in the women’s 1,500m T11; her teammate Alicja Jeromin (13.02) won the 100m T47; Krzysztof Ciuksza (55.90) clocked a season’s best as he sprinted home to win the 400m T36 and Tomasz Paulinski (11.00m) set a new European record of 11.00m in the men’s shot put F34.

Marta Piotrowska (4.51m) added another gold medal to Poland’s tally, leaping to a new championship record in the women’s long jump T37; Piotr Kosewicz (20.20m) also set a championship record winning the discus F52.

New club throw world record

Ukraine notched up four gold medals while Zoia Ovsii also set a world record.

The reigning world champion – a former Para canoeist – was the final competitor in the women’s club throw F51 – the evening’s last event. The 23-year-old threw a huge 24.31m, nearly half a metre further than the previous mark set last year.

Triple world champion Leilia Adzhametova (11.93) remains on course for a hat-trick of European titles as she added 100m T13 gold to her 200m victory from Wednesday. The 24-year-old has the 400m T13 to come on Saturday.

Further golds went Ukraine’s way as Vladyslav Zahrebelnyi (11.86) took gold the 100m T37 and Oksana Boturchuk (25.23) won the women’s 200m T12.

“This is my first European Championships and I think it’s good, but in the World Championships I must be even stronger,” said Zahrebelnyi.

Great Britain’s Steve Morris went out hard in the men’s 800m T20 but he could not find another gear coming off the final bend as three athletes surged past, led by Portugal’s Sandro Patricio Correia Baessa (1:54.80), who sprinted home to take the gold.

“I wanted to win this first place, it’s something I’ve been looking for,” said the 19-year-old. “It’s a great stadium, the atmosphere is almost perfect.”

T51 rivals go head-to-head

The men’s 200m T51 lived up to expectations. Peter Genyn (42.26) just had the edge coming off the bend but Finland’s Toni Piispanen made the Belgian work hard for his gold medal, chasing him all the way to the line.

Victory sealed the sprint double for Genyn, who admitted he was worried whether gold would be possible after undergoing surgery on a dislocated hip just last month.

“I feel good, it was a very, very close race – I expected Toni to be good but I’m happy to come away with the victory,” said the double world, Paralympic and European champion.

Turkey’s Mehmet Tunc (24.62) won the 200m T11 after Frenchman Timothee Adolphe was disqualified – suffering the same fate he did at London 2017 and Rio 2016.

It was neck and neck between Austria’s Gunther Matzinger (50.34) and Cypriot Andonis Aresti (50.98) down the home straight in the men’s 400m T47, but Matzinger dug deep in the final few metres to claim his first gold of Berlin 2018.

“It went pretty well, I didn’t have a very good race yesterday on the 200m so I tried to run a very even pace today. I came in second on the home stretch but I was able to keep my pace really good and luckily I was able to take the win,” said the 31-year-old.

Lithuania picked up their first gold of Berlin 2018 as Andrius Skuja (45.04m) set a new personal best to win the javelin F46.

Every minute of the Berlin 2018 European Championships is being streamed live on the World Para Athletics website. Visit the Berlin 2018 website for live results, full schedule, highlights and latest news.