Para Athletics in Numbers: Paeyo Pongsakorn

The 2018 Asian Para Games get underway in Jakarta, Indonesia, next week – the multi-sport event takes place from 6-13 October, with nearly 700 competitors set to line up in Para athletics competitions.

One man tipped for gold is Thai wheelchair racer Pongsakorn Paeyo - here are the stats behind the athlete.

21 – Born on 1 December 1996 in Khon Kaen, Thailand, Paeyo is 21-years-old.

53 – Paeyo competes in the T53 class for wheelchair Para athletes. His impairment is the result of the effects of polio.

4 – He competes in four events at the 2018 Asian Para Games – the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m T53, and is the current world number one in the 100m, 200m and 400m T53 and world number two over two laps.

2014 – The year Paeyo took up Para athletics – he made his senior international debut at the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea, but did not get beyond the heats in the 100m T53.

11 - The number of major medals Paeyo has won – including 400m and 800m T53 gold at his first ever Paralympic Games in Rio two years ago. His silver in the 100m T53 was Thailand’s first medal at Rio 2016.

5 - He won three silvers and two bronze medals at the London 2017 World Championships – the best-placed Para athlete in the 14-strong Thai team.

25.29 – Paeyo and Canadian Brent Lakatos both clocked 25.29 in the finals of the men’s 200m T53 at London 2017, with Lakatos taking gold by a whisker. The time was a new Asian record for Paeyo.

He also holds the Asian record in the 100m T53 (14.41), set in Nottwil, Switzerland earlier this year.