There was a sixth place finish for Nathan Maguire (coach: Ste Hoskins, club: Kirkby) in the T54 400m final on day four of the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan.

As the sole Great Britain and Northern Ireland team member in action on Monday, Maguire faced very different conditions to his heat which took place in heavy rain on Sunday evening.

With the sun out and vocal Japanese crowds out in force, Maguire lined up in lane five for the final against a strong field.

Maguire got out well, and similar to his heat, started aggressively to lie in fourth position at the 200m mark. However, this is where the Chinese trio of Hu Yang, Dai Yunquiang and Zhang Ying turned the screw which blew the race wide open.

Yang put down the accelerator with 200m to go and took his compatriots with him to extend a sizable lead over the rest of the field. Maguire pushed valiantly but with Thailand’s Saichon Konjen also pulling away around the bend, the Briton knew he was in a fight for fifth with Kuwait’s Faisal Alrajehi.

Maguire would just be edged into sixth in the final few pushes with Alrajehi just coming through. Maguire recorded a time of 46.86.

Yang pulled away to win in a Championship record of 44.98, with Yunquiang next in 45.78 and Ying making it a Chinese 1-2-3 with a PB of 46.28.

A reflective Maguire spoke afterwards, “I am a little bit disappointed to have not got into the top three. I’ve got the 800m and 1500m to go, so I’ve showed I can play with the big boys in this one, so I am looking forward to those.

“Last night felt like I was competing at home, it was cold and wet. Today was completely different. These guys were just better on the day, and that’s just how it is at the moment, but I’ll get them one day.”

“To race against some of these guys is still incredible. Some of them went to their first Paralympics before I was born, so they have some crazy experience. I am learning from them all the time. Moving forward, I want to be like these guys.

“My parents have flown out to watch so it was nice to see the GB flag in the crowd, and it was nice to have people dotted around the stadium cheering me on.”

The 2024 World Para Athletics Championships will be live on the IPC YouTube channel HERE. 

Start lists and results can be found HERE. 

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland medal tally:

Gold (3): Hollie Arnold [F46 Javelin], Jonathan Broom-Edwards [T64 High Jump], Sabrina Fortune [F20 Shot Put]

Silver (1): Thomas Young [T38 100m]

Bronze (1): Zac Shaw [T12 100m]