May’s record breakers in Para athletics

The month of May saw Para athletes out in force around the globe, with more than 30 new world records set*. Here is a round-up of world record breakers in action in the last month (all world record marks are subject to ratification by World Para Athletics):

Arizona Grand Prix, USA

• Women’s 200m T53 – Samantha Kinghorn (Great Britain)

Smashed the 200m T53 world record when she clocked 28.67, taking 0.26 seconds off the mark set by US racer Jessica Galli five years ago.

• Women’s 1,500m T51 – Cassie Mitchell (USA)

The US wheelchair racer broke a 28-year-old world record clocking 6:25.19 over 1,500m. Mitchell’s time knocked 1:34.61 off the previous mark which had stood since 1989.

• Women’s 800m T51 – Cassie Mitchell (USA)

Mitchell also broke the 800m T51 world record, clocking 3:15.64

Beijing Grand Prix, China

• Women’s javelin F35 – Jun Wang (China)

The Paralympic shot put champion threw 28.44m, adding nearly three metres on to the previous mark which had stood since the Beijing Games in 2008.

• Women’s discus F35 - Jun Wang (China)

Wang was at it again 24 hours later, breaking the discus F35 world record with 31.92m – 50cm further than the mark set by Ukrainian Mariia Pomazan four years ago.

• Men’s shot put F46 – Enlong Wei (China)

Set a new world record in the men’s shot put F46, adding 11cm on to the mark set by Russia’s Nikita Prokhorov in 2013 with his huge throw of 15.80m.

• Men’s discus F36 – Cuiqing Li (China)

The World and Paralympic bronze medallist set a new world record in the discus F36 throwing 42.96m - 78cm more than previous record holder Sebastian Dietz of Germany.

Rieti Grand Prix, Italy

• Men’s javelin F42 – Helgi Sveinsson (Iceland)

The European champion added 2.41m on to his own previous javelin F42 world record mark with a throw of 59.77m.

Other world records set around the world:

• Men’s marathon T44 – Eitan Hermon (Israel)

The 43-year-old 2015 world champion clocked a new marathon T44 world record in Vienna, Austria (Sunday 23 April), crossing the line in 2:56.53.

• Men’s javelin F13 - Aleksander Svechnikov (Uzbekistan)

Aleksander Svechnikov set a new javelin F13 world record at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, Azerbaijan throwing 70.00m.

• Women’s 100m T38 - Sophie Hahn (Great Britain)

The reigning Paralympic and world champion knocked a further 0.11 seconds off her own world record, clocking 12.49 seconds at the Loughborough International Athletics match.

• Women’s 200m T38 – Sophie Hahn (Great Britain)

A week later in Bedford, Great Britain, Hahn broke the 200m T38 record with 26.20.

• Men’s discus F44 – Dave Blair (USA)

US Paralympic champion Dave Blair became the first Para athlete to go over the 65m-mark when he threw a massive 65.72m at the Tucson Elite meeting in the USA.

• Women’s 100m T34 – Hannah Cockroft (Great Britain)

Cockroft’s time of 17.28 in Arbon, Switzerland, knocked 0.03 seconds off the record she set in nearby Nottwil three years ago.

• Women’s 400m T34 – Hannah Cockroft (Great Britain)

The five-time Paralympic champion also excelled in the 400m T34, taking 0.92 seconds off her previous best set at Rio 2016 with a new world record time of 57.86 before making it 57.73 two days later.

• Women’s 800m T34 – Hannah Cockroft (Great Britain)

Cockroft obliterated the mark she set last year in the run up to the Rio Games with a time of 1:55.73 in Arbon.

• Women’s 400m T53 – Chelsea McClammer (USA)

The double Paralympic silver medallist clocked 53.32 in Arbon, more than one second faster than the time China’s Hongzhuan Zhou set on her way to winning Paralympic gold last year.

• Women’s 5,000m T53 – Chelsea McClammer (USA)

McClammer’s time of 11:02.40 was more than two seconds faster than the previous best set in Arbon two years ago.

• Women’s 800m T53 – Chelsea McClammer (USA)

McClammer secured a third world record in Arbon, taking a massive 1.55 seconds off the mark set by Hongzhuan Zhou at Rio 2016 with a time of 1:45.90.

• Men’s 5,000m T54 – Rawat Tana (Thailand)

Thailand’s reigning world champion Rawat Tana clocked 9:51.36 then three days later lowered that time to 9:49.17.

• Men’s 100m T53 – Brent Lakatos (Canada)

Paralympic champion Brent Lakatos lowered his own 100m world record to 14.15 then 48 hours later made it 14.10.

• Men’s 200m T53 - Brent Lakatos (Canada)

Lakatos took 0.23 seconds off the 200m mark he set in nearby Nottwil three years ago with a time of 25.04.

• Men’s 800m T53 – Brent Lakatos (Canada)

Lakatos’ time of 1:31.91 lowered the mark previously set by the USA’s Josh George in Arbon in 2015.

• Men’s 400m T34 – Walid Ktila (Tunisia)

Tunisia’s four-time world champion clocked 49.57, taking 0.47 seconds off his previous record from 2014 – he improved that to 49.08.

• Men’s 200m T34 – Walid Ktila (Tunisia)

Ktila notched up his third world record in Arbon, this time in the 200m T34 with a time of 26.21 - nearly half a second off his best set three years ago.

• Men’s 800m T34 – Mohamed Hammadi (UAE)

Paralympic champion Mohamed Hammadi crossed the line in 1:37.84 – more than two seconds faster than Ktila’s previous world record mark set at the same meeting two years earlier.

• Men’s 100m T34 – Rheed McCracken (Australia)

McCracken took 0.03 off Ktila’s previous best from two years ago in Arbon, crossing the line in 14.92.

• Men’s 10,000m T54 – Marcel Hug (Switzerland)

Hug improved his own seven-year-old 10,000m world record by more than five seconds, clocking 19:45.05.