Four world records fall in Nottwil on Sunday morning

The Netherlands’s Marlou van Rhijn, Italy’s Martina Caironi, Kuwait’s Ahmad Almutairi and the USA’s Rachael Morrison grabbed the headlines on the third morning of the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil, Switzerland, on Sunday (31 May) with sensational world records in their respective events.

Van Rhijn, who lowered her own 100m T43 world record on Saturday (30 May), was in blistering form posting 25.66 seconds in the 200m to take 0.33 off her previous best set just two weeks ago.

“I really hoped to run fast as I knew the track was fast and the weather was good so I thought if there is a time to do it then it’s probably today,” said the 23-year-old who has now set four world records this year. “I really wanted to do it, but it was tough, as I had to do it on my own the last 100m and I got a little tired.

“I was very happy Laura [Sugar] was in front of me at the start because then I could catch-up a little bit and then just run through over the finish line.

“I am quite shocked about this PB as it’s quite early in the season.”

In the same race, Caironi (32.32) also took 0.32 seconds off her own T42 world mark, to follow up on her 100m record from Saturday. The 25-year-old was delighted with the time.

“After my training this month I felt like I was in a good position but in this race I was really motivated by the other athletes who were running faster than me,” she said.

“Yesterday I did 15.15 and today with 32.32, but then of course that doesn’t help with my long jump!

“I am really happy. This is just the beginning of the season. My coach and the organisers of the Grosseto meeting have said I’ve now got to do it again there where I hope to do even better!

“Here the weather was perfect and the track is very fast so the conditions were perfect for doing a very fast time.”

Almutairi lowered his own 15 month old world record in the T33 class. The 21-year-old clocked 30.06 to lower his previous best by 0.28 seconds and helped Great Britain’s Toby Gold (32.66) also set a new European record in the process.

On a morning featuring multiple 200m races, Australia’s Angie Ballard (28.95) came agonisingly close to breaking Jessica Galli of the USA’s three year-old T53 world record. Ballard broke Galli’s 400m record on Friday and was just 0.02 seconds outside the 200m mark. The USA’s Shirley Reilly (30.88) was second and Great Britain’s Samantha Kinghorn (31.06) third.

World champion Brent Lakatos (25.55) was just outside Chris Waddell’s 11-year-old world record of 25.24 in the men’s T53. The 34-year-old Canadian still posted the fastest time of the year so far and was a clear winner finishing ahead of France’s Pierre Fairbank (26.68) and teammate Jean-Philippe Maranda (27.30).

The Netherlands’ world and European champion Kenny van Weeghel (24.71) was in impressive form as he clocked a world leading time in the men’s T54. Thailand’s Konjen Saichon (24.95) was a surprise second with Finland’s Leo-Pekka Tahti (25.19), who had made a strong start, third.

Van Weeghel’s teammate Margriet van den Broek (30.13) posted the fastest time of the year as she won the women’s T54 equivalent. Nigeria’s Hannah Babaolo (30.71) was second with the USA’s Hannah McFadden (31.13) third.

Tunisia’s Walid Ktila (27.02) posted a world lead with victory in the men’s T34 as he beat the UAE’s Mohamed Hammadi (27.520) in to second. Finland’s Henry Manni (27.80) continued his great form with a European record, his third regional record of the weekend after success in the 400m and 800m.

Multi world and Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft (31.32) of Great Britain was a comfortable winner in the women’s T34 as was Switzerland’s Beat Bosch (32.09) in the men’s equivalent. Finland’s Toni Piispanen (39.57) won the men’s T51.

Other 200m winners included Canada’s Becky Richter (57.11) in the women’s T51, the Netherlands’ Luna Jansen (33.93) in the women’s T33, the UAE’s Yahya Alblooshi (23.86) in the men’s T42-46 and the Netherlands’ Jelmar Bos (24.70) in the men’s T35-20.

Team Canada (3:16.75) won the men’s 4x400m T51-54 relay.

In the field, Morrison was the star of the show throwing 8.71m in the women’s discus F51 to add 11cm to her own world record set in July 2014. The UAE’s Ahmed Alhousani (23.15m/593 points) won the men’s discus F33-57.

All the results from the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil can be found here.