American Browne sets new world record in 200m final – Cuiqing Liu emerges as new sprint star

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DOHA, Qatar, Oct 26 : The exhilarating action was non-stop on the fourth evening of the Doha 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships as six further world-records fell and 16 new World Champions were crowned. The much-hyped Men’s 200m T44 final resulted in a convincing win by Richard Browne of the USA who broke the world-record in the process in a time of 21.27s.

The rivalry between Richard Browne of the USA and Alan Oliveira of Brazil was one of the most anticipated showdowns of this year’s World Championships. Alan Oliveira is the reigning World and Paralympic Champion and held the world-record until tonight but Richard Browne showed that he was in unbeatable form as he claimed his first major Championship individual title. The two will meet again in the 100m T44 on Oct 29.

Speaking after the race, Richard Browne said: “I feel absolutely amazing. It was a fast track and very fast competitors. I can’t wait for next year. That’s one down, two to go. I still have the 200m and 4x100m and I don’t plan on losing those either.”

However, Alan Oliveira had the last word in his response after finishing second:

“I have just had a sabbatical, but I am still happy with the result. I told Richard that I will beat him in Rio!”

In the Women’s 200m T11, Cuiqing Liu of China continued her meteoric rise in the sprint events as she beat Terezinha Guilhermina for the second time in these World Championships. Guilhermina had been unbeaten in a World Championships in nine years ahead of Doha 2015 but Liu has come into these World Championships in blistering form. The pair will meet for a third and final time when they go head to head again in the Women’s 100m T11 on Oct 28.

Speaking after her victory Liu said: “I am really happy and I always knew that if I worked hard enough I would make it. Terezhina is a role model for me, so I am hoping to follow in her path.”

The second world-record of the evening was broken in the 200m T12 final by Omara Durand with a time of 23:03s. Durand is in fantastic form in these World Championships having already broken two world-records and won two World Championships titles, and will be in action again on the Oct 26 when she runs in the 100m T12. The Women’s 400m T37 and T38 events provided two further world-records when Georgina Hermitage of Great Britain and Margarita Goncharova stormed to victory in 1:02.01 and 1:02.18 respectively. Hermitage came from nowhere this year smashing the world-record for the first time earlier in the year having missed the whole of the 2014 season through injury and only competing once in 2013 due to the birth of her daughter.

Speaking after her world-record, Hermitage said: “I am so happy, coming back from injury I didn’t think I would be able to compete, to come out here and break a world record, I couldn’t have asked for more.”

China, who are well clear at the top of the medal table with 17 gold, 10 silver and seven bronze medals, had another dominant evening. Five further Chinese World Champions were crowned and two world-records were broken in the Women’s discus F44 by Juan Yao who threw a distance of 43.49m, and in the Men’s long jump T38 by Hu Jianwen who jumped 7.13m.

Speaking after victory, Juan Yao said: “I am very excited, but winning here just makes me want to work harder. I want to thank my team mate for inspiring me.”

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