Markus Rehm, multiple world and Paralympic champion in the T44 Long Jump, shows his running blade to school children. Right: 200m T44 event world champion Richard Browne clicks a selfie with school children.

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Even before the exhilarating action got underway at Qatar Sports Club this morning, there was a joyous and celebratory atmosphere in the stands with schoolchildren turning up in their hundreds to witness the incredible athletes on show in the capital.
Already in the first events there were heroes competing, with Brazilian legend Terezinha Guilhermina chasing a qualifying spot for the semi-final of the women’s 100m T11 race later yesterday. The reigning world champion duly delivered and won the heat, looking odds-on to go head to head with her emerging nemesis Cuiqing Liu from China who also qualified. Liu has denied Guilhermina of two gold medals already in the 200m and 400m events, a feat that has shook the world of para-sport considering the Brazilian’s nine-year unbeaten reign. Today’s tantalizing final will see the pair up against each other once again with the Chinese sprinter looking to complete the dethroning in Doha.
Another superstar sprinter getting the animated crowd on their feet was Richard Browne of USA, who along with German legend Markus Rehm took time out of their busy competition schedule to visit schoolchildren in a bid to raise awareness of disability and para-sport. The young contingent were curious to learn more about the incredible athletes and their stories, which have seen them overcoming adversity through sport and become world champions.
Rehm is a multiple world and Paralympic champion in the T44 Long Jump, and added to his impressive portfolio of world records yet again in Doha last week as he claimed the gold medal with a distance of 8.40m.
Speaking about his long jump world record, the amputee maestro said: “I’m really happy for this 8.40m. The conditions were really good and this jump was more than I expected. The first jump of my competition was a fault but it was quite far so I have some hope that I can jump even further. I’m going to go back and train really hard for the coming season so hopefully I can go for a bit further in Rio.”
Richard Browne is also an amputee, and demolished the world record in Doha as he was crowned world champion in the 200m T44 event on Sunday. He will be competing again in the 100m T44 on Thursday.
Speaking ahead of the race he said: “I’m feeling confident. After the 200m I feel good. I’m really focused on executing my race and I hope I can win and break the world record. Doha has been great - the track is amazing, the fans are great, everything has been well organised. A big shout out to the IPC and to the LOC.”
Elsewhere there was plenty of anticipation ahead of the women’s discus throw F57 final, which featured a former Olympic Champion from Atlanta 1996 in the name of Ilke Wyludda of Germany. She was one of the most prodigious talents to ever step on an athletic throwing circle and still owns the thirteen best junior performances at the discus, including a huge 74.40m from September 1988, which is, besides the existing world junior record, the fifth overall mark in the history of the event. In 2010 Wyludda suffered from blood poisoning after knee surgery, which caused her to lose her right leg.
Here in Doha she was looking to make history as the first former Olympic Champion to also win gold in the World Championships, but it was not to be unfortunately for the German who finished fifth, as Algeria’s Nassima Saifi and Stele Eneva of Bulgaria proved too strong and took the gold and silver medals respectively. Ireland’s Orla Barry followed in third.
In the men’s long jump T11 final all eyes were on Lex Gillette of USA who was chasing his own world record of 6.73m from 2014. He didn’t manage to further it but he did secure the gold with a jump of 6.38m, beating Elchin Muradov of Azerbaijan into second and Ruslan Katyshev of Ukraine into third.
Speaking after his win, he said: “The competition was good. For the most part we had straight runs, there were a few hiccups here and there but we got the result we needed to win and that’s the most important thing. I am looking forward to going home and resting; then I will get back to training hard for the road to Rio.”
The drama was not over this morning, however, with the Danish shot-putter Jackie Christiansen leading the intense F44 final all the way from his first throw until the very last throw of the competition to take his fourth world title in his final competition of his career. Everything looked like it was going according to plan until the Slovakian champion Adrian Matusik stepped up and narrowly secured the gold medal in his last attempt.
“It was a bit annoying really, missing out on the gold by 1cm and in the last throw of the competition. What can you do though? Today Adrian was simply better, but I still hold the world record and the European record. Doha was my last competition as I will retire now, so it was nice to at least come away with a medal.”