Australia out to Seize Success on Day Six | World Para Athletics Championships

Day Six of the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships will be defined by those who can thrive in a championships environment, with Australia’s stars locked in battles that hinge on centimetres and milliseconds.

After finishing in fourth and fifth placings respectively in the 100m T38 Final, training partners Rhiannon Clarke (WA, Danny Kevan) and Ella Pardy (WA, Danny Kevan) will race with the podium in mind when coiling into the blocks for today’s 200m T36 Final.

Having equalled her Oceania record of 12.91-seconds in the 100m, Clarke now turns her attention to her preferred distance where she finds herself seeded fourth on personal best (26.79) and third on season’s best (26.97). Aware of the numbers but not obsessing over them, the 20-year-old is ready and raring to go for her second of the championships:

“Running an equal personal best, Australian and Oceania record in the 100m gives me confidence that I am in career-best form and will be able to run a quick time. Finishing fourth there has made me more determined to go out there for the 200m, I know I have it in me,” Clarke said.

“Returning to the podium would be amazing and I am definitely pushed running with the T38 girls, it shows how competitive this sport is becoming.”

Pardy is set to be amongst the party with her personal best of 27.28-seconds placing her as a live chance in the compact field.

Wheelchair racer Samuel Rizzo (VIC, Richard Colman) is celebrating his return to the international scene with a pair of finals appearances, gearing up for today’s 1500m T54 final after safely navigating the first round in 3:19.57 to advance on time.

Ranked ninth in the field of 10 on time, the 22-year-old is expected to race free of pressure when he takes on the field spearheaded by Swiss sensation Marcel Hug, with Rizzo determined to pick off as many placings as possible.

A two-time world champion in the Shot Put F38, Cameron Crombie (ACT, Matt Beckenham) will today trade the circle for the runway as he prepares to contest an event on the Paralympic program, the Long Jump T38, keeping his dream of a Paralympic debut alive at 37-years-old.

19-year-old Annabelle Colman (VIC, Anthony De Castella & Liz Gosper) is poised to make her World Para Championships debut in the 1500m T20, with the teenager on the cusp of eclipsing Patricia Whittaker’s Australian record of 4:45.65 which has stood since 2000. Colman’s personal best of 4:49.30 has her ranked fourth in the field of 10 this year, as the teenager adds international experience to her resume.

Switching from the track to the field, Rosemary Little (NSW, Breanne Clement) and Sarah Clifton-Bligh (NSW, Louise Sauvage) turn their attention to the Shot Put F32 after yesterday’s 100m T34, with Little one of five athletes in the field to have cleared six-metres this year. The Paralympic medallist will be in the hunt for her fourth global medal in what looms as a battle of centimetres, while Clifton-Bligh adds another international competition under her belt.

Already a 2023 world champion in the 400m T36, James Turner (ACT, Iryna Dvoskina) is eager to complete the sprint double and his redemption story in the 100m T36, looking to upgrade his silver medal from Tokyo with a statement win one year out from the Paris Paralympic Games. Turner will earn a dress rehearsal today in the heats, before unleashing in tomorrow’s final.

Adding to the sprinting action, teenage duo Mali Lovell (NSW, Katie Edwards & Melinda Gainsford-Taylor) and Abby Craswell (QLD, Andrew Craswell) will look to punch tickets to their second final of the championships in the 200m T36, having impressed on debut in the 100m T36.

The debutants athletes have relished their time in Paris to date and are far from finished in their campaigns, with Lovell possessing one of the fastest times in the world this year across the nine entries – her 30.43-second career-best ranking her third this year with more to be revealed after today’s first round.

Australian audiences can tune in to the World Para Athletics Championships live and free on 9Now from 5pm AEST.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 14/7/2023