Tokyo Paralympics: Para athletics day 7 preview

The National Olympic Stadium will witness 18 finals on day seven of Para athletics at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

The morning session will kick off at 9:30 am (Tokyo time) on Thursday, 2 September with seven finals.

First up will be the women’s shot put F35 where Ukraine’s Mariia Pomazan leads the pack for the last decade. She is the five-time world champion, two-time European champion, and a Paralympic gold medallist from London 2012. Four years later, she took silver at Rio 2016.

Ukraine’s owns the best result of the year from the Bydgoszcz 2021 European Open Championships. Anna Luxova from the Czech Republic lies in second place with a season-best also set in Poland.

Brazil’s Marivana Oliveira is third in the rankings with the best result set in June in Sao Paulo. She is a bronze medallist from Rio 2016 Paralympics, and a two-time World Championships medallist from Doha 2015 and Dubai 2019.

The men’s long jump T37 will come next. China’s Zhou Peng will be the man to beat as the reigning world champion from Dubai 2019.

Brazil’s Mateus Evangelista will be looking at his first Paralympic gold after his silver from Rio 2016. He is also a two-time World Championships medallist from 2017 and 2019.

Vladyslav Zahrebelnyi from Ukraine is the leading Para athlete in the event this year. He set his mark at the Euros in Poland where he defended his title from Berlin 2018. Zahrebelnyi is the two-time World Championships bronze medallist as well.

The first track final of day seven will be the men’s 400m T12 which has seen African dominance in recent years. Morocco’s Abdeslam Hili is the reigning world champion from Dubai 2019 and the current world record holder.

Hili’s compatriot Mahdi Afri won the gold medal at the London 2017 Worlds but had to settle for silver two years later in Dubai. His CV also includes a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Neither Hili nor Afri had significant results in 2021 so far. The leading 400m sprinter this year is Rouay Jebabli from Tunisia. He set the season-best time at the Tunis Grand Prix in March. Turkey’s Oguz Akbulut, the two-time European champion, holds the second-best result of the year.

The morning session will also see another women's shot put event, this time in the F57 class. Algeria will be eyeing one or two medals with names like Algeria’s Nassima Saifi, London 2017 world champion and Rio 2016 Paralympic silver medallist.

Saifi’s compatriot Nadia Medjmedj won gold at the Athens 2004 Paralympics and two bronze medals at Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016.

Another Algerian representative in Tokyo, Safia Djelal has two World Championships bronze medals and tops the ranking in 2021 with her result from the Dubai Grand Prix in February.

But the favourite to gold is Mexico’s Maria de los Angeles Ortiz. She is the back-to-back Paralympic champion and the reigning world champion from Dubai 2019. She is also the world record holder in the event.

There will be more world record holders in action in the morning. Morocco’s Mohamed Amguoun will be defending his Paralympic title in the men’s 400m T13. He is a two-time world champion in the race (Doha 2015 and London 2017).

Namibia’s Johannes Nambala will be Amguoun’s biggest rival in the battle for gold. He is also a two-time world champion from Lyon 2013 and Dubai 2019. Nambala finished second behind Amguoun at the last Paralympics.

Algeria’s Skander Athmani is the fastest man in 2021 with a time set at the Dubai World Para Athletics Grand Prix. He is almost 1.50s faster than the second-best time of the year, from Morocco’s Adnane Khouri.

Brazil’s Alessandro Da Silva is the clear favourite for gold in the men’s discus throw F11. The vision-impaired athlete is the reigning Paralympic champion, back-to-back world and Parapan American Games champion, as well as the world record holder.

He set the best result in 2021 at the National Trials in Sao Paulo in June. Italy’s Oney Tapia is holding onto second place in the rankings. He is the two-time European champion and a silver medallist from both the Rio 2016 Paralympics and the Dubai 2019 Worlds.

Poland’s Miroslaw Madzia will be a threat to Da Silva and Tapia as the reigning European champion from Bydgoszcz in June.

The women’s 100m T37 will close the curtain in the morning session. France's Mandy Francois-Elie is the world record holder and the fastest woman in the event in 2021. She is the three-time European champion, world champion from Lyon 2013 and the London 2012 Paralympic champion. She took silver at the Rio 2016 Games.

China's Xiaoyan Wen and Fenfen Jiang dominated the race at the World Championships in Dubai in 2019. Wen won the gold medal with silver to Jiang.

Ukraine’s Nataliia Kobzar and USA’s Jaleen Roberts have the second- and third-best times of the year. Kobzar is a silver medallist from the London 2017 World Championships where Roberts took bronze.

Evening session

The evening session at the National Olympic Stadium will kick off with the men’s javelin throw F13. Daniel Pembroke from Great Britain is leading the way in 2021 with a mark that gave him the gold medal at the Bydgoszcz 2021 Europeans.

Spain's Hector Cabrera Llacer is another medal hopeful as the Berlin 2018 European champion and two-time World Championships medallist.

Azerbaijan’s Orkhan Gasimov has the third-best mark of the year set at the Tunis Grand Prix.

Another field event will come up next with USA’s Jeremy Campbell leading the pack. He is the reigning world champion in the men’s discus throw F64, as well as the 2021 ranking leader. Campbell set his best result at the US National Trials in Minneapolis in June.

Ivan Katanusic from Croatia is second from a National competition in Split. He took gold at June's European Championships in Poland and also has a bronze medal from the Dubai 2019 Worlds in his collection.

USA’s David Blair won silver in Dubai and will be another threat for Campbell in Tokyo. Great Britain’s Dan Greaves is the Berlin 2018 European champion and silver medallist from Bydgoszcz 2021.

The first track final on the evening session will be the men’s 100m T11. USA’s David Brown is the defending Paralympic champion and the current world record holder. He won world titles in 2015 and 2017 and has the third position in the 2021 rankings.

Greece’s Athanasios Ghavelas is the leading sprinter this year with the result that took him to the top of the podium at the European Championships in Bydgoszcz.

Timothee Adolphe from France took silver at Euros setting the second-best result of 2021. He has another silver medal from the Dubai 2019 Worlds to add to the gold from the Berlin 2018 Euros.

Brazil will have a strong team in the men’s 100m T11 in Tokyo. Lucas Prado is the reigning world champion from Dubai, while Felipe Gomes has two Paralympic and three World Championships medals to his name.

Namibia's Ananias Shikongo won bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and silver at the London 2017 Worlds.

All eyes on Durand

After three male events, it will be time for the women’s shot put F33. Asmahan Boudjadar from Algeria is the reigning Paralympic champion and the gold medallist from the London 2017 Worlds.

Qatar’s Sara Hamdi Masoud won a silver medal in both competitions adding another second place to her CV at the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games.

Poland’s Joanna Oleksiuk is the Para athlete to beat in the event this year. She owns the best mark of the year from the European Championships in Bydgoszcz.

Another women’s event will follow bringing a Paralympic legend to the track. Cuba's Omara Durand is the defending Paralympic champion, three-time world champion, and two-time Parapan American Games champion in the women's 100m T12.

On top of that, Durand is also the world record holder and the leading sprinter in 2021 with a result set at the Tunis Grand Prix in March.

Germany's Katrin Mueller Rottgard is likely to be Durand’s biggest threat in Tokyo as the bronze medallist from the previous Games in Rio de Janeiro. She won silver at the London 2017 Worlds and gold at the Berlin 2018 Euros.

Two more track finals in the women’s competition are on the schedule, both of them in the 400m. First up is the women’s 400m T53 with China’s Hongzhuan Zhou as the clear favourite for gold. She is the back to back Paralympic champion and the reigning world champion from Dubai 2019.

USA’s Chelsea McClammer should be Zhou’s main rival in the event as the world record holder and the silver medallist from Rio 2016. She won two Parapan American Games titles in Guadalajara 2011 and Toronto 2015.

Great Britain’s Samantha Kinghorn leads the 2021 rankings in the distance with a result set at a competition in Switzerland in May.

Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner is sitting in second place in the rankings with her European Championships gold-mark from June. She is also the reigning world champion from Dubai in 2019.

Hamide Dogangun from Turkey is the third-fastest this year. She took silver at Bydgoszcz 2021 and has a bronze from the Dubai 2019 Worlds. Australia’s Angella Ballard is another one to watch out as a two-time Paralympic bronze medallist and a world champion from Doha 2015.

Caironi seeking first Paralympic title

Next up will be the women’s 400m T54 final. USA’s Paralympic legend Tatyana McFadden has not given any chance to her rivals for almost a decade. The world record holder has the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic gold, besides three-time World Championships gold in the event.

She is the second-fastest this year behind Switzerland’s Manuela Schaer. McFadden’s compatriot Cheri Madsen is in third place. She is the Paralympic champion from Sydney 2000 and a two-time World Championships medallist.

China’s Lihong Zou won bronze at Rio 2016 behind McFadden and Madsen. Her most recent success came at the Dubai 2019 Worlds where she won the gold medal taking advantage of McFadden's absence.

The last women's event on day seven will be the long jump T63. Italy’s Martina Caironi, the world record holder, will seek her first Paralympic title after winning two European Championships in 2018 and 2021. She set the season-best result in Bydgoszcz in June.

Vanessa Low will be Caironi’s main threat as the defending Paralympic champion and the reigning world champion. German-born Low represented the European country in two Games and made her international debut for Australia at the Dubai 2019 Worlds.

Belgium’s Haenen Gitte is another medal hopeful as the silver medallist from the Dubai 2019 Worlds and Berlin 2018 Euros.

Finishing off with men’s track finals

Canada’s Brent Lakatos is leading the way in the men’s 800m T53. He is the world record holder and a three-time world champion from 2015 to 2019. The only thing Lakatos misses on his CV is the Paralympic gold in the race.

He took silver at London 2012 and bronze at Rio 2016. Lakatos will come to Tokyo in great form as the fastest man this year with a time set at the Nottwil Grand Prix.

Thailand’s Pongsakorn Paeyo took gold at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and Jakarta 2018 Asian Para Games. He has two World Championships medals but no gold so far.

Pierre Fairbank from France is the three-time European champion and another medal candidate. He has been on the Paralympic podium with a silver at Rio 2016 and a bronze 21 years ago at Sydney 2000. Fairbank has four World Championships medals to his name.

The penultimate final of the day will be the men’s 800m T54 in which USA’s Daniel Romanchuk and Switzerland’s Marcel Hug will be battling for gold.

Romanchuk is the reigning world champion and world record holder, as well as the fastest man this year with a time set in Arbon. Hug finished second at the same competition. He is the defending Paralympic champion with one World Championships and three European Championships titles to his name.

Yong Zhang from China and Saichon Konjen from Thailand will be trying to cause an upset in Tokyo. Zhang is the bronze medallist from the Dubai 2019 Worlds, while Konjen won silver at the Rio 2016 and bronze at the London 2012 Paralympics.

The final medal event on 2 September will be the men’s shot put F35. China’s Xinhan Fu is the defending Paralympic champion and the gold medallist from the London 2017 Worlds. He won silver at the last World Championships in Dubai two years ago.

Khusniddin Norbekov from Uzbekistan beat Fu in Dubai. He is the world record holder and tops the ranking with a throw from the Dubai World Para Athletics Grand Prix.

Argentina’s Hernan Emanuel Urra and Latvia’s Edgars Bergs are other Paralympic medallists in the event. Urra won silver and Bergs bronze medal at Rio 2016. Since then, the Argentinian took gold at the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games and bronze a couple of months later at the Dubai World Championships. 

Bergs triumphed at two consecutive European Championships in Berlin 2018 and Bydgoszcz in June this year.

Complete schedule and results from the Para athletics competition at Tokyo 2020 will be available on Paralympic.org.