BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- An unceasing moderate
rain since nightfall didn't extinguish the enthusiasm for athletics competition
of the Beijing Paralympic Games on Tuesday when 20 gold medals were split by
diverse countries and regions in the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium.
Day Two of track and field started in a rainy and
gloomy morning. However it was brightened up by three track and four field
finals unfolding in a packed stadium.
Lucas Prado from Brazil did what he has been doing
all week in the men's 100m T11 (complete visually impaired) and broke his own
world record to win the gold medal in 11.03 seconds.
In the men's 100m T44 (ambulant athletes with
amputations and other disabilities), South African "blade runner" Oscar
Pistorius, the only T43(more serious level) runner in the final, won the gold in
11.17 second, though just missed his Paralympic record of 11.16s. The USA's
Jerome Singleton and Brian Frasure took out the silver and bronze medals
respectively.
In the men's 4x100m relay T53/54 (wheelchair athletes
with different levels of spinal cord injuries and amputations), host China who
set a world record of 49.89 seconds in qualifying for the final, won the gold
medal in 49.9 seconds with fantastic teamwork.
The Athens gold and silver medalists in the relay,
Thailand and Australia, failed to bring any trouble to the Chinese quartet.
Thais won the silver and Australians were disqualified.
"We cooperated very well," said Zong Kai, Chinese
first leg. "We tried to break the world record, but the raining has affected our
performance a lot. The lane and our gloves are all getting very slippery."
"My mother was not among the spectators, but she must
be watching on TV. All that I have achieved is owed to her. It's her who gave me
the second life. She sacrificed a lot for me when I was ill," said Zhang Lixin,
the third leg.
For the field events on Tuesday, spectators in the
stadium were treated to plenty of excitement with a number of world record
performances.
In the men's long jump F37/38, Farhat Chida from
Tunisia jumped an F38 world record of 6.36m on his second attempt to take the
lead. Pakistani Haider Ali then equaled the distance on his third to share the
lead. Chida bettered the F38 world record, with a 0.9 wind-aided 6.44m, on his
second last jump to secure the gold. Ali equalled this record on his final leap,
but with a stronger wind aid of 1.9m per second to receive the silver medal.
The bronze medalist, China's Ma Yuxi, set F37 world
record of 6.12m on his first jump, and then bettered his record to 6.19m on his
final jump.
In the men's shot put F57/58 (wheelchair athletes
with different levels of spinal cord injuries or amputations), all three
medalists in Athens were on the start list but only Jamil Elshebli from Jordan
secured a silver, but he bettered his own 57 class world record. The gold medal
went to Russia's Alexey Ashapatov who shattered his own 58 class world record
with his final throw of 16.03m.
In the women's shot put F57/58, Eucharia Njideka
Iyiazi from Nigeria laughed last to win the gold medal with a result of 10.96m
after her competitors set new leading positions one after another.
But the Paralympians in Beijing not only set records
in the finals: in the heats of men's 400m T13, Luis Manuel Galano from Cuba
clocked a Paralympic record of 49.28s seconds. In the women's 400m T53 heats,
Jessica Galli of the United States created a tournament record in 56.10 seconds.
South Korea's Suk-Man Hong's 49.13 seconds earned him a Paralympic record in the
heats of the men's 400m T53.