Medals in sight for Team Australia as Turner sprints for eighth global gold

With a combined total of seven global gold medals and four world records to his name, James Turner has never lost at a World Para Athletics Championships. It’s a winning streak that the sprinter has no plans of relinquishing on Day Three in Paris, as Australia looks to climb the medal table.

It’s been two years since Turner (ACT, Iryna Dvoskina) has come face-to-face with his fiercest rivals, but the world record holder picked up where he left off at the Tokyo Paralympics when running a scorching 55.52 in the first round overnight. Giving spectators a taste of his potential,Turner outclassed his rivals qualifying first for the final, despite hitting the brakes to save up his energy in the home stretch.

“The race plan was to take it hard for the first 200m, then pretty hard around the last bend and ease off for straight because I’ve got the final coming up. Iryna Dvoskina and I have been working pretty hard to make this a good championships, so I’m hungry for gold,” Turner said.

The offering of finals also includes the Men’s 400m T34, where Paralympic medallist Rheed McCracken (NSW, Louise Sauvage) is eyeing his 13th international medal for his growing collection. Finishing the heats with the fastest non-automatic qualifying time, the three-time Paralympian will have his work cut out for him as he comes up against some of his biggest rivals including world record holder Walid Ktila from Tunisia.

Paralympic bronze Sarah Edmiston (WA, Paul Edmiston) was last seen on the international circuit at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, taking silver in the Women’s Discus F44. The mother of four and grandmother of two will need to muster a mark near her Oceania record of 39.13m if she is to add medal number four to her collection in the Discus F64, seeded as the number three athlete with a season’s best of 38.67m. Edmiston presents as a world title contender when stepping out onto the field for her third World Para Athletics Championships, just 23cm behind top seed Oris Aneth Mochado (Mexcio).

Fellow Western Australians Rhiannon Clarke (Danny Kevan) and Ella Pardy (Danny Kevan) will bring their wealth of experience to 100m T38 Final, where the duo will face a classy field which includes Paralympic gold medallist Sophie Hahn (GBR). The last edition of the championships in Dubai saw Clarke breakthrough for her first pair of global medals, but missed out on a place on the podium in Tokyo despite running to a personal best time of 12.91. 32-year-old Pardy enters in career-best form, clocking a new lifetime best of 12.96 earlier this year.

Two of Australia’s wheelchair racing heavyweights will line up for the Women’s 800m T53, as reigning Paralympic champion Madison de Rozario (WA, Louise Sauvage) and Team co-captain Angie Ballard (ACT, Fred Periac) make up two of the five-person field. Ballard will officially become Australia’s most capped athlete at a World Para Athletics Championships, with nine appearances at the major event while de Rozario will use the opportunity to add to her silverware collection, having won medals in the last four editions of the event at the championships.

Dayna Crees (VIC, Gordon Talbot) will make her Australian team debut in the Javelin Throw F34 Final; a feat she has her eye on since she won her first medals as a 12-year-old club athlete in Berwick. The javelin is the first event of two for the thrower, who enters with a 16.25m personal best.

Also beginning their campaigns today are a quintet of sprinters that will line up for their heats. Australia’s fastest para athlete Chad Perris (ACT, Matt Beckenham) switched his approach to training since leaving the Tokyo Games empty handed and has since clocked times as fast as 10.65-seconds, landing another global medal in the equation.

Debutants Mali Lovell (NSW, Katie Edwards and Melinda Gainsford Taylor) and Abby Craswell (QLD, Andrew Craswell) will toe the line in the 100m T36, soaking up the atmosphere as they don the green and gold for the first time. Wheelchair racers Sam Carter (ACT, Fred Periac) and Luke Bailey (NSW, Andrew Dawes) will also take their marks in the 400m T54 heats as the pair look to book spots in Wednesday’s final.

Catch all the Australian action from 5pm AEST on the Nine Network’s digital platform, 9Now. Full start lists and results can be found HERE.

By Sascha Ryner

Posted: 10/7/2023