CHIASSARO BOUNCES BACK FOR FOURTH OVER 200M

After a nasty crash in last night’s T54 800m final, Richard Chiassaro (coach: Jenni Banks) bounced back with a fourth place finish in this evening’s T54 200m final as day five of the World Para Athletics Championships drew to a close in London.

Joined on the start line by compatriot Nathan Maguire (Steven Hoskins) after both had navigated the preliminary round earlier this morning, a field which contained four sub-25 athletes stood between the pair and the podium.

Last year’s European champion over the distance, Chiassaro got out well from lane eight at the gun to quickly move on to Maguire’s shoulder in the lane to his right.

Coming off the bend in fifth place, and with the red-hot pace of the race taking Tunisia’s Yassine Gharbi to a championship record of 24.86 and gold, Chiassaro held it together to move past German Marc Schuh in lane six to pinch fourth in commanding fashion with 25.12, a season’s best and his second quickest ever time.

He said: “The three guys that finished in front of me are world class and some of the fastest starters in the world, so for me to catch them and be in contention near the end of the race was good.

“I know that I’ve got to go away on work on my starts; my top speed is as good if not better than some of those guys, so that’s where I need to put the work in.

“I’m getting a bit tired, but 400m is my favourite so I’ll look forward to it tomorrow.”

Pushing in what was his first ever global championship final, Maguire will be sure to remember the race for all the right reasons as a sixth place finish was accompanied by a personal best time of 25.86, an improvement of a hundredth of a second on his previous best.

Post-race he said: “I’m really excited with the time; that was brilliant. Just going out there with those guys at my first major championships was huge, and I think it shows that I can keep up with the top guys. Hopefully there’s more to come in the 400m.

“When your name gets called out here it really spurs you on; hopefully I can do well in the 400m and progress to the final so I can do it all again.”

Still only 17 years of age, last year’s Paralympic Games T47 100m finalist Polly Maton (Colin Baross) took to the track for another global sprint final.

Running from lane six after a tremendous reception from the home crowd, the Wiltshire-based athlete broke out the blocks a little behind the rest of the field only to gain the ground back come the 40m mark.

Motoring on well with eventual victor Deja Young of the USA well clear on route to gold, Maton moved through to take fifth in 13.04, a season’s best time.

“I’ve gone sub-13 previously so I would have been hoping for that sort of time, but I’ve had some problems with my calf over the last couple of days so just to be out here running is so exciting,” said Maton.

On the experience, she added: “I was too young for 2012, but to have people cheering you on like that means the world. Hopefully as a young athlete I’ll keep progressing; the dream is Tokyo 2020.”

Competing in the opening event of the evening and third in the throwing order of the F20 Shot, last year’s Paralympic Games bronze medallist Sabrina Fortune opened up with a modest 12.29m, 12cm down from her season’s best heading into the competition.

Marks of 11.85m and 11.96m followed in round two and three respectively, with the Deeside AAC athlete struggling to find consistent form in the 12m region, something that has been of no trouble so far in 2017.

Mustering 11.07m in round four and 11.77m in five, a disappointing foul with her final attempt was followed by a surge of form from her fellow competitors, with throws produced elsewhere knocking Fortune down to sixth place overall.

“I was pleased with the first throw, it was really good but it didn’t go so well after that,” said Fortune.

“It is a fantastic crowd and they made a lot of noise. I am looking forward to Tokyo now; that’s the next big one.”

British Athletics medallists (20) at the World Para Athletics Championships London 2017:

Gold (11):
Hollie Arnold – F46 Javelin
Olivia Breen – T38 Long Jump
Hannah Cockroft – T34 100m, 800m
Aled Davies – F42 Discus
Sophie Hahn – T38 200m
Sophie Kamlish – T44 100m
Sammi Kinghorn – T53 200m
Jonnie Peacock – T44 100m
Stef Reid – T44 Long Jump
Richard Whitehead – T42 200m

Silver (2):
Kare Adenegan – T34 100m
Toby Gold – T33 100m

Bronze (7):
Kare Adenegan – T34 800m
Kadeena Cox – T38 200m
David Henson – T42 200m
Maria Lyle – T35 200m
Gemma Prescott – F32 Club Throw
Andrew Small – T33 100m
Richard Whitehead – T42 100m