Dubai: Switzerland wheelchair racing legend Marcel Hug broke the world record en route winning the men wheelchair 5000m T54 gold as curtains fell on the Dubai 2022 World Para Athletics Grand Prix -13th Fazza International Para Athletics Championships.
Hug finished the race in 9:32.32min to get his second world record in the United Arab Emirates in as many weeks. He had set a new world record at the Sharjah International Meeting last week.
Thailand’s Prawat Wahoram (10:00.92min) finished second while Great Britain’s Daniel Sidbury clocked 10:01.19min for third place.
“It’s amazing” a jubilant Hug said. “Really very happy with my form right now. I am very satisfied. It was my goal to come here and break the world record. The conditions are always perfect here, especially in the evening. Besides its a very fast track so I had a great chance to get a good timing here. First, I did it in Sharjah and then here. The Fazza Championships has always been an important competition for me so I have been coming here for many years now. It’s a good opportunity to see where I stand and where I have to improve in my training besides trying different tactics,” said the multiple time Paralympic champion Hug, who will go for the Boston Marathon title next.
25 medals
The hosts UAE also celebrated five medals including one Asian record on the final day.
In the medals table, Colombia finished on top with 25 medals including 12 gold, followed by Algeria (16) and Thailand (30) with 11 and 8 golds respectively.
UAE finished in 19th place with 17 medals including one gold, 10 silver and 6 bronze.
Rio 2016 Paralympic silver medallist Noura Alktebi, who won the only gold for the hosts at the Dubai 2022 Championships, lit up the evening for the hosts with an Asian record show in club 397g women F32 final. She threw the club to a distance of 19.46m for the silver finishing behind Mounia Gasmi of Algeria (21.74).
UAE’s Thekra Alkaabi (18.67) finished third.
Before this, Paralympic medallist Sara Aljneibi had clinched her second silver at the Championships, this time in javelin wheelchair women final F33/34/54 with a throw of 8.51m.
Algeria’s Asmahane Boudjadar claimed the gold with an effort of 11.99m while UAE’s Aishah Salem Alkhaaldi (8.49m) settled for the bronze.
Medals tally
Abbad Ali added another silver to UAE’s medals tally in discus men final F11/37 with an effort of 37.04m. Kuwait’sHamed Ali took the gold hurling the discus to a distance of 41.54m.
Among other notable results, Kenya swept the podiums in 1500m men and women races with Wesley Kimeli Sang (4:08:46 min) taking the gold in 1500m men T13/20/46 while Wilson Bii (4:22.62) topped in the women 1500m T11/12 race.
Overall the Championships saw four world records and 20 continental records.
The Championships, hosted under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, kicked off the World Para Athletics’ Grand Prix season with around 500 para-athletes from 43 nations in action at the Dubai Club for People of Determination grounds this week.
