Brazilians dominate in Berlin, Popow peaks in time
A full round-up of all the action from Berlin at the weekend, where world records were broken and history made. 18 Jun 2013Home favourite Heinrich Popow, the reigning world and Paralympic 100m T42 champion, also showed that he is reaching top form at just the right time, clocking 12.12 seconds in the 100m T42.
With less than five weeks to go before start of the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, many of the world’s best took to the track at the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Germany last weekend (14-16 June) with their intentions clear.
Brazil’s Paralympic 200m champion Alan Fonteles Oliveira sent shockwaves round the globe as he sprinted to victory in the 100m with a new T43 world record mark of 10.77 seconds.
His time is 0.14 seconds faster than the previous T43 world record jointly held by South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius and USA’s Blake Leeper.
Not to be outdone, the Netherlands’ Paralympic 200m champion Marlou van Rhijn smashed her 100m T43 best with a time of 12.96 seconds – the fastest time ever by a female leg amputee. Great Britain’s Sophie Kamlish was second in 13.69. Iris Pruysen was third, but the Dutchwoman leapt to victory in the long jump, with a best of 5.21m.
The ‘Blade Babe’ then bettered her own 400m T43 world mark, clocking 61.10 seconds – 3.85 seconds faster than the time she set last month at the Dutch Open.
Home favourite Heinrich Popow, the reigning world and Paralympic 100m T42 champion, also showed that he is reaching top form at just the right time, clocking 12.12 seconds in the 100m T42. Although fast, the wind factor meant there was no world record this time.
Great Britain’s 100m T12 world champion Libby Clegg won the sprint double with a victory in the 100m and 200m T12/13, whilst Brazil dominated the women’s T11 sprint events.
In fact it was a repeat of the Paralympic Games last year with double world and Paralympic champion Terezinha Guilhermina winning the 100m T11 ahead of her compatriots Jerussa Geber Santos and Jhulia Santos. The 34-year-old reigned supreme again over 200m.
There was further success from Brazil with Emicarlo Souza beating his fellow countryman and Paralympic champion Yohansson Nascimento to the line in the 200m T46, clocking 22.75 seconds. Souza also stole the show in the 400m T43-48, with a win over Fonteles Oliveira, whilst Brazil’s Paralympic silver medallist Lucas Prado won the 100m T11 ahead of Felipe Gomez, who clinched bronze in London.
In the field events, Great Britain’s discus F44 World Champion Dan Greaves threw 59.68m – his second furthest ever, whilst F42 thrower Aled Davies scored a win with 46.06m.
The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships will take place in Lyon, France from 19-28 July. It will be the biggest gathering of international athletes since London 2012, with 1,300 athletes from 90 countries expected to compete.