Oscar Pistorius on Saturday began the defense of his three sprint titles with a bang, breaking the world record in the T44 200m, as Irish runner Jason Smyth became the fastest Paralympian in history over 100m.
Pistorius, who earlier this month became the first double-amputee to compete in the Olympics, stormed to victory in his heat at the Olympic Stadium in east London, clocking a new best of 21.30 seconds.
The 25-year-old said he was happy with the time — and the reception from the 80,000-strong crowd — but again played down expectations that he would complete the sprint clean-sweep.
“I’ve done a world record tonight, so we’ll see what happens, but the 100m isn’t really my event,” he said.
Pistorius, nicknamed the “Blade Runner” because of his carbon fiber prostheses, is to face Beijing silver medalist Jim Bob Bizzell, as well as his long-standing rival Jerome Singleton, both of the US.
The race had been billed as the highlight of the evening’s program, with Pistorius’ participation in the 400m heats and 4x400m relay final at the Olympics making him the most high-profile athlete at the Games.
However, Irish sprinter Jason Smyth gave a stunning performance in the T13 100m, streaking to victory in 10.46sec, breaking the previous world best of 10.54sec that he set in qualifying on Friday night.
The 25-year-old, who is visually impaired and like Pistorius also competes in non-disabled races, trains with US sprint star Tyson Gay in Florida and has said it is possible to have a Paralympian run under 10 seconds in the straight sprint.
He has run 10.22sec — 0.27 seconds quicker than the non-disabled women’s 100m record set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 — although his time has not been recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
There was more cheer for Ireland in the T37 category for athletes with cerebral palsy, as Michael McKillop retained his 800m title from Beijing in a new world record of 1 minute, 57.22 seconds.
Another record tumbled in the men’s T38 100m as Australia’s Evan O’Hanlon — once voted one of his country’s most eligible bachelors by a fashion magazine — lowered the previous best by 0.09 seconds to defend his Beijing gold in 10.79 seconds.
Cuba’s Yunidis Castillo also retained her T46 200m title in a new world best.
In the pool, Britain’s Ellie Simmonds laid to rest question marks about Victoria Arlen’s eligibility to race in the women’s S6 400m, smashing the US swim queen’s previous world best by just over 5 seconds to win gold.
Arlen was given the all-clear to race after being ruled “non-eligible,” then re-instated earlier this week on appeal. The IPC will rule on her case in August next year.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Andre Brasil picked up his third gold medal of the Games in the men’s S10 100m butterfly, while New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe triumphed in the women’s equivalent, after picking up the S10 200m individual medley gold.
US swimmer Jessica Long picked up her third medal in as many days and her 10th in three Games in the SB7 100m breaststroke.
In cycling, Britain’s Sarah Storey clinched the C4/5 500m time-trial for her second gold of the Paralympics and the ninth of her Games career, as her husband Barney helped Neil Fachie win the blind and visually impaired 1km time-trial.
In the mens’ C4 individual pursuit over 4km, Carol-Eduard Novak of Romania, a silver medalist in Beijing, took gold from the Czech Republic’s defending champion, Jiri Jezek.
Michael Gallagher gave Australia another gold in the C5 race, while China was at the top of the podium once again after He Yin, who took the women’s C1-2-3 500m time-trial.
Defending champions Ukraine and the team they defeated in the final four years ago, Russia, showed they were still the teams to beat in seven-a-side soccer, as they thumped the US 9-0 and Argentina 8-0 respectively.
Nigeria continued their dominance of the paralifting, as Esther Oyema and Joy Onaolapo both broke world records in the under-48kg and under-52kg categories, leaving the the West African nation with a medal in seven of the eight classes at the Games.
There was surprise, though, in the equestrian after Britain’s Lee Pearson took silver to Australia’s Joann Formosa in the Grade Ib individual championship — the first time he has been beaten in a Paralympic dressage competition in four Games.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and