Turner breaks another World Record

Paralympian James Turner has run a blistering 23.52 seconds over 200m in Canberra overnight, crowning him the fastest man ever in the event for the T36 class.

Already the world record holder in the event, Turner lowered his record of 24.09 from the London 2017 World Championships at the Summer Series Meet at the Australian Institute of Sport. 

Turner burst onto the Paralympic scene in Rio where he competed in the 800m, recording an emphatic victory and significantly lowering the world record in the process. 

With the 800m T36 removed from the schedule in Tokyo, the 24-year-old has turned his focus to the shorter distances under the watchful eye of respected coach Iryna Dvoskina. 

“I’ve completely changed my training and have been doing a lot more explosive stuff, but still doing things like cross country,” he said. 

Despite making history again, Turner says there is still room for improvement. 

“My start was a bit slow but I was able to pull off the bend pretty well,” he said. 

“We’ve been doing a lot of work on the start lately and even though I was a bit slow, Iryna said she was happy with my technique so that gives me confidence going forward.”

While the 200m T36 is not on the schedule for the Tokyo Paralympics, Turner says the outstanding performance is a firm indicator that he will be ready to fire in the 100m and 400m events next year. 

“It gives me quite a bit of confidence and means we’re on the right track to do well which is good,” he said. 

“I’m pretty confident I will be able to go into Tokyo and do what needs to be done.” 

Turner holds the T36 word records in the 100m, 200m and 800m events. 

By Lachlan Moorhouse
Posted: 20/12/2020