O’Hanlon nabs the double

"I came in and I've won 100 per cent of my races in world-record time, the same as I did in Beijing.”

Aussie sprinting sensation Evan O’Hanlon completed the double and added another a gold medal in the 200m T38 on Saturday morning (8 September) to the 100m gold he won earlier in the week, bringing his tally up to five gold medals, including three from Beijing.

The 24-year-old flew out of the starting blocks and finished comfortably ahead of his competition to secure a new world-record time of 21.82 along with his gold medal. South Africa’s Dyan Buis claimed the silver medal narrowly beating Wenjun Zhou of China, who took bronze.

"I came in and I've won 100 per cent of my races in world-record time, the same as I did in Beijing,” said O’Hanlon.

“The standard of Paralympic sport has grown astronomically everywhere since Beijing and it's going to keep growing. London's been a really good stepping stone for all of us because the media at this Games is massive and we're getting massive crowds and that's pushing us across the finish line faster."

Brazil’s Shirlene Coelho did one better than her 2008 Beijing silver medal to receive gold in the women’s javelin throw T37/38 to reset her world record with a distance of 37.86m.

Speaking after the event, Coelho said: "I have so many emotions. I waited four years for the Paralympic Games and to get the gold medal. My first Games (Beijng 2008), I also got the world record, but unfortunately, I got the silver medal with a gold taste. But now I got the real gold."

Algeria’s Abdellatif Baka pipped Kenya’s David Korir to the post in the men’s 800m T13 final to secure a new Paralympic record with a time of 1:53.01. Korir had to settle for his second silver medal of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Neda Bahi of Tunisa took to the top of the podium following the women’s 400m T37 final to receive her gold medal after racing a regional record time of 1:05.86. She was joined on the podium by silver medallist Viktoriya Kravchenko of Ukraine and Russia’s Evgeniya Trushnikova with a bronze medal.

In the men’s triple jump F12 final, Azerbaijan finished one and two with Oleg Panyutin taking gold and teammate Vladimir Zayets with the silver medal. Hewei Dong of China finished in third place to take the bronze medal.

Mexico topped the table twice in the athletics morning session, first when Luis Alberto Zepeda Felix took the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw F54/55/56 final. The Mexican threw a distance of 28.07 to nudge the world record holder Alexey Kuznetsov into silver medal position.

Whilst Angeles Ortiz Hernandez of Mexico got the gold in the women’s shot put F57/58 with a world record distance of 11.43m (1015 points) to keep the lead. Steal Eneva of Bulgaria received the silver medal and the former Paralympic world record holder Eucharia Iyiazi of Nigeria took bronze.

US sisters Tatyana and Hannah McFadden will race against each other in the women’s 100m T54 final after qualifying from the heats. Tatyana is racing for her fourth gold medal of the Games but faces tough competition from Chinese duo Wenjun Liu and Hongjiao Dong, who qualified in the fastest time from the heats.

Following his gold medal triumph in the men’s 800m T52 final, Raymond Martin was back on the track targeting a place in the men’s 200m T52 final. The US star crossed the line first and finished fastest overall, in front of 800m silver medallist Tomoya Ito of Japan.

There was just 0.01 seconds separating the fastest qualifiers in the men’s 100m T11 heats as Brazil’s Lucas Prado raced a personal best time of 11.15 to narrowly finish in front of Lei Xue of China.

Tunisia’s Walid Ktila set a new Paralympic record in the men’s 100m T34 heats to finish as the fastest qualifier. Fanie van der Meerwe of South Africa set a new world record in the men’s 100m T37 heats with a time of 11.52 to secure his place in the final, just ahead of Mostafa Fathalla Mohamed of Egypt.

Russia’s Elena Ivanova cruises through to the women’s 100m T36 final as the quickest qualifier with a time of 14.65, closely followed by Jae Min Jeon of Korea and Argentina’s Yanina Andrea Martinez.

In the men’s 4x100m relay T53/54, world record holders China sailed through to the final as the fastest qualifiers with a time of 3:08.27. They are joined in the final by Republic of Korea, Thailand and Australia.