Fortune extends golden reign

Great Britain’s Sabrina Fortune won the women’s shot put F20 gold medal at the New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships with a new world record on Monday, claiming her fourth consecutive world title in the event.

The 28-year-old Paralympic champion pulled off a throw of 16.75m in her first attempt, adding one metre to her previous mark set in Birmingham, Great Britain, last month. Ebrar Keskin of Turkiye was second best, almost three metres behind, having thrown 13.80 in her first attempt. Neutral Para Athlete Aleksandra Zaitseva took bronze.

“I’m so surprised. I just wasn’t expecting that today,” Fortune said.

“It’s so, so hot and with so many things having gone wrong in the last week, you can’t put into words how happy I am. I just want to jump up and down and run the whole track. But I feel like I might overheat if I try to do that.”

The Welsh shot putter has gone from strength to strength since winning her first world title in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2019, later adding Paralympic gold at Paris 2024. The four-time world champion, however, did not want to take all the credit for her success.

“It’s more to do with the fact that I’ve got a good coach and good places to train,” she said.

“I had a few years when I didn’t improve. Now I’m just coming back in, improving, improving and improving. And as long as you believe in yourself, it will always carry on.”

Hosts domination 

In the third day of action at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the host nation was close to producing a clean sweep in the men’s javelin throw F46 final. Rinku won the gold medal with a championship-record throw of 66.37m in his fourth of six attempts, with his teammate Sundar Singh Gurjar claiming the silver with 64.76 in his fifth attempt.

The winner comes from a small village three hours from the stadium, where he lost his arm in a farming accident as a boy. On Monday, the 26-year-old had family and friends in the loud home crowds cheering him on as he won his first world title, having claimed the silver in Paris 2023.

“I’m so thankful to my supporters and my family. Their presence encouraged me a great deal,” Rinku said. “It was my day, everything went my way, from conditions to everything else.”

India’s Ajeet Singh had held the silver medal position after pulling off 61.77 in his second attempt but could not improve further and had to settle for a fourth place after Cuba’s Guillermo Varona Gonzalez took the bronze with 63.34. 

It was the second gold medal of the championships for India as the host nation take the sixth place in the overall medal standings topped by China, Brazil and Poland, all on four golds.

Australia’s first gold 

James Turner brought home Australia’s first gold medal of the championships as he took back the men’s 400m T63 title from New Zealand’s defending champion William Stedman. 

Turner, who had to settle for a silver medal behind Stedman at last year’s World Championships in Kobe, Japan, refused to let that happen again. He led the race from start to finish, bagging his fourth world title in the event and eighth in total. Neutral Para Athlete Kirill Glazyrin made a strong last push as Turner slowed down in the last 50m and won silver, 0.07 of a second behind the Australian, as Stedman claimed bronze.

“It hurts, but it feels good,” Turner said.

“I might have gone out a little bit too hard but other than that, I executed pretty well.”

After his gold medals at London 2017, Dubai 2019 and Paris 2023, the 29-year-old Paralympic champion was happy to be back on top of the World Championships podium. 

“I’ve taken back the crown,” he said.

“It means redeeming myself from last year and proving to my coach (Iryna Dvoskina), all the support staff back in Canberra, my friends and family how serious I take this and how far I’m willing to go for it.”

Colombian one-two finish

As Colombia made a one-two in the women’s 100m T38 final, 16-year-old world championships debutant Angie Nicoll Mejia Morales beat Paralympic champion and world record-holder Karen Tatiana Palomeque Moreno to the title by two hundredths of a second. 

The South American duo pushed each other in the lead of the race as the rising star finished in 12.34 to beat her championship record from the heats.

It means back-to-back silver medals in the event for 31-year-old Palomeque Moreno, with five world titles to her name. Lida Maria Manthopoulo of Greece claimed the bronze medal.

Two for Thailand 

Thailand secured two gold medals on Monday, through Pongsakorn Paeyo, who won the men’s 400m T53 title, and Chaiwat Rattana, who triumphed in the men’s 400m T34 final. Both came into their finals as world record holders, Rattana after making a mark with a new world record of 47.94 seconds in Sunday’s heat.

Para athletes from Belgium, Brazil, China, Ecuador, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and Uzbekistan also took gold medals on Monday, as well as Neutral Para Athlete Denis Gnezdilov, who took the men’s shot put F40 title.

MEDALLISTS

Women’s Discus Throw F44 Final

Gold: Osiris Aneth Machado (Mexico)
Silver: Samantha Heyison (United States)
Bronze: Yao Juan (China)

Men’s Shot Put F53 Final

Gold: Bartosz Gorczak (Poland)
Silver: Ales Kisy (Czechia)
Bronze: Viacheslav Kaleev (NPA)

Women’s Long Jump T12 Final

Gold: Yokutkhon Kholbekova (Uzbekistan)
Silver: Iida Lounela (Finland)
Bronze: Lynda Hamri (Algeria)

Men’s 400m T36 Final

Gold: James Turner (Australia)
Silver: Kirill Glazyrin (NPA)
Bronze: William Stedman (New Zealand)

Men’s Shot Put F40 Final

Gold: Denis Gnezdilov (NPA)
Silver: Miguel Monteiro (Portugal)
Bronze: Garrah Tnaiash (Iraq)

Women’s Discus Throw F64 Final

Gold: Faustyna Kotlowska (Poland)
Silver: Jessica Heims (United States)
Bronze: Alicia Guerrero (United States)

Women’s Javelin Throw F34 Final

Gold: Zou Lijuan (China)
Silver: Zuo Caiyun (China)
Bronze: Dayna Crees (Australia)

Men’s Discus Throw F52 Final

Gold: Aigars Apinis (Latvia)
Silver: Andre Rocha (Brazil)
Bronze: Velimir Sandor (Croatia)

Women’s 100m T38 Final 

Gold: Angie Nicoll Mejia Morales (Colombia)
Silver: Karen Tatiana Palomeque Moreno (Colombia)
Bronze: Lida Maria Manthopoulou (Greece)

Men’s Long Jump T63 Final 

Gold: Joel de Jong (Netherlands)
Silver: Leon Schaefer (Germany)
Bronze: Daniel Wagner (Denmark)

Women’s 100m T47 Final 

Gold: Kiara Rodriguez (Ecuador)
Silver: Maria Clara Augusto da Silva (Brazil)
Bronze: Marie Ngoussou Ngouyi (France)

Men’s 400m T34 Final 

Gold: Chaiwat Rattana (Thailand)
Silver: Rheed McCracken (Australia)
Bronze: Austin Smeenk (Canada)

Women’s Shot Put F20 Final 

Gold: Sabrina Fortune (Great Britain)
Silver: Ebrar Keskin (Turkiye)
Bronze: Aleksandra Zaitseva (NPA)

Men’s Javelin Throw F46 Final 

Gold: Rinku (India)
Silver: Sundar Singh Gurjar (India)
Bronze: Guillermo Varona Gonzalez (Cuba)

Women’s 800m T53 Final 

Gold: Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland)
Silver: Zhou Hongzhuan (China)
Bronze: Hamide Dogangun (Turkiye)

Women’s 800m T54 Final

Gold: Lea Bayekula (Belgium)
Silver: Zhou Zhaoqian (China)
Bronze: Melanie Woods (Great Britain)

Men’s 400m T53 Final

Gold: Pongsakorn Paeyo (Thailand)
Silver: Yoo Byunghoon (Republic of Korea)
Bronze: Vitalii Gritsenko (NPA)

Women’s 400m T11 Final

Gold: Thalita Vitoria Simplicio da Silva (Brazil)
Silver: Juliana Ngleya Moko (Angola)
Bronze: Melissa Baldera (Peru)