Big finish on last day in Olympic Stadium

The final day of athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the London 2012 Paralympic Games has 22 gold medals up for grabs. 08 Sep 2012
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Jessica Galli

Jessica Galli (USA) competes in the Women's 400m - T53 Final Athletics event at Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

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In the women’s 400m T53, world record holder Jessica Galli will be out to defend her title. She faces a tough field including her compatriot Shirley Reilly and Australia’s Angela Ballard.

After nine thrilling days of athletics in the Olympic Stadium, the action finally comes to an end on Saturday (8 September) with some of the most closely contested finals yet.

The evening session will finish with the eagerly anticipated medal decider for the men’s 400m T44 event, where the “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius will face fierce competition from USA sprinter Blake Leeper and the Brazilian who pipped him to the post in the 200m, Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira.

Aussie duo Evan O’Hanlon and Tim Sullivan take to the track in the 200m T38 final in the morning session as the race heats up for the few remaining medals. Defending champion O’Hanlon, who won the 100m on Saturday (1 September), eased his way into the final after comfortably crossing the line with one eye on the competition behind him. South Africa’s Dyan Buis and China’s Wenjun Zhou, who received silver and bronze medals behind O’Hanlon in the 100m, are also in the starting line-up.

America’s golden girl Tatyana McFadden heads into her final event, the women’s 100m T54 heats, hoping to reach the final and finish the Games with yet another 2012 Paralympic gold medal to add to her collection.

In the women’s 400m T53, world record holder Jessica Galli will be out to defend the title she won in Beijing 2008. She faces a tough field including her compatriot Shirley Reilly and Australia’s Angela Ballard, who has already won a silver and a bronze medal at these Games.

In the heats of the men’s 800m T13, David Korir of Kenya maintained his quick pace to set a new Paralympic world record of 1:54.56 finishing as the quickest qualifier. What will he be able to achieve in the final?

The line-up for the men’s 4 x 100m T53/54 relay final will be decided in the morning session before being contested in the evening. China are the defending champions and race in the first heat hoping to progress to the final.

The men’s high jump T46 final features a highly competitive line-up with the USA’s Jeff Skiba, gold medallist in Beijing 2008, and the current world champion Maciej Lepiato of Poland looking like the front runners for the top spot.

In the women’s shot put F40 final, Tunisia’s world and Paralympic record holder Raoua Tlili will be the one to beat, having previously recorded a season’s best 9.34m to put her at the top of the world rankings.

In the men’s triple jump F12 final, Vladimir Zayets arrives in London as the world number one, with a season’s best 15.08m. But watch out for the world record holder Osamah Masaud Al Shanqiti, who cleared 15.37m to secure gold in Beijing 2008, as well as Oleg Panyutin from Azerbaijan, who set a personal best of 15.09m when he won triple jump gold at the World Championships last year.

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