[nivo_slider source=”post” link=”image” size=”625×450″ limit=”30″ effect=”random” speed=”600″ delay=”3000″]LONDON, England ● The Olympic Stadium was lit up by a series of world records and another outstanding performance from Michael McKillop, while there were also electric performances in the pool on Day 5.
Irish runner McKillop sealed his status as the world’s best Paralympic middle-distance runner as he beat the opposition to win the 1500m – T37 in a time of 4:08.11, more than six seconds ahead of Australia’s Brad Scott.
Poland’s Karolina Kucharczyk jumped a world record 6m to take the Long Jump – F20 crown, becoming the first woman to hit the 6m barrier.
It was an incredible series of jumps from the Pole, who extended the record with her first, second, third and then fifth jumps.
Moroccan El Amin Chentouf smashed the 5,000m – T12 world record to take gold in 13:53.76, with the top four all coming home within the previous mark of 14:24.02.
Kenya’s Samwel Mushai Kimani became the first man to dip under four minutes as he set a world record 3:58.37 in the 1500m – T11.
Eighteen-year-old USA athlete Raymond Martin also made it double gold with victory in the 400m – T52 to add to his 100m crown.
Great Britain’s Ellie Simmonds stole the spotlight in the pool, dipping inside her own world record in the 200m Individual Medley – SM6.
The 17-year-old thrilled the crowd with a storming comeback. Fifth after the butterfly leg and fourth at halfway, Simmonds made her way up to second at the final turn where she produced a blistering freestyle – 1.38 faster than anyone in the field – to touch in 3:05.39.
China’s Xu Qing cut an astonishing 3.37 off Sascha Kindred’s world record to win the men’s equivalent race, the first time Kindred had missed gold in the event since Sydney 2000.
World records tumbled across the board on a frantic day.
Yang Yang set a new mark of 2:03.71 in the men’s 100m Freestyle – S2, Yang Bozun triumphed in world record time of 1:10.11 in the 100m Breaststroke – SB11 and Ihar Boki’s 56.97 was an 100m Backstroke – S13 record.
Denis Tarasov lowered his own 50m Freestyle – S8 mark to 25.82, and there was also a new world record for Xia Jiangbo, who won the women’s 100m Freestyle – S3 in a time of 1:44.32.
Oxana Savchenko dipped almost two seconds inside the 200m Individual Medley – SM12 mark in 2:28.00, and Australia set a new mark of 4:20.39 in the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay – 34 Points.
Oscar de Pellegrin, 49, signed off his Paralympic Games Archery career with gold in the men’s Individual Recurve – W1/W2 overcoming Hasihin Sanawi in a shoot-off.
Russia cleaned up in the men’s Individual Recurve – Standing, winning all three medals on offer as Timur Tuchinov took gold from Oleg Shestakov.
China’s Li Jianfei took gold in the Mixed-P3 25m Pistol – SH1 Shooting final in dramatic circumstances, powering back from seven points down to overhaul Russia’s Sergey Malyshev in a reverse of the Beijing 2008 standings.
Austria’s Pepo Puch won gold in the Equestrian’s Individual Freestyle Test – Grade Ib ahead of Finland’s Katja Karjalainen and the Briton Lee Pearson.
Great Britain took gold in the Individual Freestyle Test – Grade II, with Natasha Baker claiming a second Paralympic Games title in the space of 48 hours.
Ali Hosseini won gold for Iran in men’s -75kg Powerlifting with a lift of 225kg. The 35-year-old won silver in the -67.5kg in Beijing but went one better here as he saw off Mohamed Elelfat of Egypt.
There were no less than 15 medals handed out in a busy day of Table Tennis.
Hungary’s Peter Palos took the first of the day in the C11, with the session concluding after Holger Nikelis of Germany and China’s Shuai Zhao won in C1 and C8, respectively.
The queen of Wheelchair Tennis kept on going today as the Netherlands’ Esther Vergeer recorded her 467th straight victory, beating Katharina Kruger 6-0 6-0 in just 40 minutes to reach the third round.
USA pair Nicholas Taylor and David Wagner will defend their Paralympic Quad Doubles crown against Great Britain’s Peter Norfolk and Andy Lapthorne after the pairs came through their semi-finals today.
Australia and Canada completed pool play unbeaten in the men’s Wheelchair Basketball with victories over Italy and Colombia respectively, while hosts Great Britain beat Japan to be sure of their place in the last eight.
With the quarter-final field already set for the women, the USA provided the drama as they came from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to beat China 68-65 after overtime.
Paralympic champions Ukraine booked a semi-final spot in the Football 7-a-side tournament with a 7-1 victory over Great Britain at the Riverbank Arena.
Brazil are into the final four following an 8-0 rout of the USA, with Russia and Iran also going through.
In the Boccia, the defending champions in the Mixed Team – BC1-2, Great Britain, were comprehensively defeated 18-1 by Thailand to relegate them to the bronze-medal match.
Thailand will take on China in the final.
Belgium are through to the quarter-finals of the men’s Goalball thanks to a 5-3 victory over Republic of Korea. Iran are also through the knock-out stages having beaten Algeria 4-2.
China booked their spot in the last eight with a 3-1 win over Canada, and their achievement was matched by the Chinese women’s team, who beat Denmark 8-1 to advance to the next round.