With 155 finals completed, Athletics is drawing to a close. The ninth evening session crowned 17 champions, including nine world record holders, and Canada's Chantal Petitclerc wrapped up her Paralympics career with her fifth gold in Beijing.
Women's 200m T12
Assia El'hannouni of France crossed the finish line in 24.84 seconds to defend her Athens 2004 gold medal and break her old world record (24.99s), El'hannouni goes home with two silvers (800m - T13/12 and 1500m - T13) and two golds (400m and 200m - T12). 2006 world champion Oxana Boturchuk of Ukraine won the silver with 25.03s, adding to her silver from 400m and gold from 100m. Spain's Eva Ngui's time of 25.70s gave her the bronze medal. Evalina Alexandre of Angola was disqualified.
Women's 200m - T11
Brazil took the gold and bronze through Terezinha Guilhermina (25.14s) and Jerusa Santos (26.09s). Guilhermina now has one bronze (400m - T12), one silver (100m - T11) and on the last day of track, a gold. Her teammate Adria Santos' world record of 24.99s from Sydney 2000 still stands. Wu Chunmiao of China failed to repeat her gold medal performance in the 100m but earned silver with 25.40s.
Women's 100m - T13
Two false starts and the heavy rain did not faze Sanaa Benhama of Morocco as she won her third gold of the Paralympics and set a new Paralympic record with 12.28s. Ilse Hayes of South Africa, the gold medalist in the Long Jump T13, finished the race in 12.45s to take the silver while Greece's Alexandra Dimoglou's run of 12.56s gave her the bronze.
Men's 400m - T11
Lucas Prado won yet another gold, taking his personal tally to three (one each in 100m and 200m), finishing in 50.27 seconds. Angola's Jose Armando came in a close second with 50.44s but retains his world record 50.03s, set in Athens in 2004. Oliksandr Ivaniukhin of Ukraine took the bronze with 50.82s.
Men's 200m - T13
Ireland's Jason Smyth went by in a flash on his way to another world record. Within a span of a few days in Beijing, he first beat his own 2006 record (21.83s) in the heats by clocking 21.81s and tonight finished the Men's 200m with 21.43s to win the gold, making it two to his name (gold in 100m). A close second was Alexey Labzin of Russia with 21.87s. Vugar Mehdiyev of Azerbaijan and Luis Manuel Galano of Cuba finished with 22.00s but the bronze was awarded to Mehdiyev.
Women's Discus - F12/13
After silver in the Shot Put, Tamara Sivakova of Belarus now has a gold medal with her throw of 41.29 meters (970 points). China's Zhang Liangmin performed consistently in her first three throws and the second one, 40.35m (948 points), won her the silver. Argentina won its second Athletics medal through bronze medalist Elizabeth Almada for her throw of 38.03m (894 points).
Men's Shot Put - F11/12
David Casinos of Spain may not have bettered his Sydney 2000 F11 world record (15.26m) but his second attempt of 14.50m (1050 points) was enough for the gold. Vladimir Andryushchenko's 16.46m only gave the Russian athlete 1015 points for the silver, based on the multi-classification event point system. Vasyl Lishchynskyi of Ukraine, gold medalist in the Discus event, took the bronze for his throw of 13.59m (984 points).
Women's 100m - T36
It was exactly the same medal standing as in the 100m as Wang Fang of China braved the rain to beat her Athens world record of 13.88 seconds and clocked 13.82s for the gold. She left Claudia Nicoleitzik of Germany and Hazel Simpson of Great Britain far behind, but they claimed silver and bronze with 15.00s and 15.40s, respectively.
Men's 200m - T37
Fanie van der Merwe of South Africa took his second gold in Beijing by ending the race in 23.83s, beating the previous record of 23.88s. His first gold was a Paralympics record in 100m, 11.97s. The silver went to Sofiane Hamdi of Algeria who finished with 24.10s, adding this to his bronze from 100m. China's Ma Yuxi who won silver in the 100m, wore the bronze when Hamdi overtook him close to the finish line, leaving Ma to finish in 24.48s.
Men's 4x100m - T35-38
The host nation looked like they had this in the bag and were quite a distance ahead as early as the second leg but world record (46.18s) holders Australia stole China's glory, setting a new world record 44.81s and winning gold. China was awarded the silver with 45.00 and Tunisia took bronze with 47.81.
Men's 100m - T53
The United States' Josh George's quick dash to the finish line in 14.79 seconds was not enough to beat Thailand's Pichet Krungget's world record of 14.72s but it was good for gold. Great Britain's Mickey Bushell came in second with 14.86s while China took its second bronze of the evening with 15.09s. Krungget managed fifth place.
Men's 1500m - T54
Great Britain's David Weir's performance may not have bettered his own world record (2:55.72) but it won him the gold when he finished with 3:10.34. Weir now has two golds, one silver and one bronze. Thailand's Prawat Wahoram won the silver with 3:10.68 while Kurt Fearnley of Australia took the bronze with 3:14.28, adding to his two silvers (5000m and 800m). Weir and Fearnley take part in the Marathon on Wednesday.
Women's 1500m - T54
It took her a while, but on the last lap, Petitclerc sneaked up from behind five other racers and sped off, raising her arms in victory as far as 10 meters before the finish line, confidently taking the gold in 3:39.88. Shelly Woods of Great Britain was not far behind for the silver with 3:40.99, adding that to her bronze from the 5000m. Edith Hunkerler of Switzerland took the bronze with 3:41.03 and will race in the Marathon on Wednesday.
Women's 4x100m - T53/54
China's women's relay team made up for their men's defeat by winning gold and doing it in under one minute, at 57.61s, taking six seconds off the old world record (1:03.87) set by Australia in 2000. The silver medal went to Australia who finished in 1:01.91. The bronze was won by the United States with their time of 1:02.16.
Women's Discus - F57/58
Nigeria's Eucharia Njideka Iyiazi won her second gold of the competition (one in Shot Put) with her throw of 35.21m (1120 points). Stela Eneva of Bulgaria won the silver with her third attempt throw of 34.58m (1100 points). F57 world record (30.59m) holder Nadia Medjemedj of Algeria failed to better record and only managed a throw of 28.74m (1090 points), winning the bronze based on the multi-classification event point system.
Men's 4x100m - T42-46
Team USA set the previous world record (43.06s) in 2006 and claimed the title again, and the gold, when they clocked 42.75s, far ahead of second place finishers Brazil (45.25s). Australia took the bronze with 45.80s.
Men's 400m - T44
South Africa's Oscar Pistorius blazed tracks in the last final of the evening, taking his third gold and the F43 world record with 47.49 seconds. In exactly the same medal standing as the 200m event, Jim Bob Bizzell of the United States won the silver and set the F44 world record with 50.98s, while Great Britain's Ian Jones' best of 51.69s was good for a bronze.
(BOCOG.com September 16, 2008)