YOVANNI Philippe from Mauritius destroyed the country’s track and field athlete Muhammad Ammar Aiman Nor Azmi’s hopes of a medal in the T20 men’s 400 meters (intellectual disability) at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games after pipping him at the finish line, here today.
Muhammad Ammar Aiman made a strong start and was in the top three position before Philippe accelerated in the final 10m to grab bronze at the Stade de France.
The 22-year-old athlete, making his Paralympic debut, clocked 48.38 seconds (s) to finish the run in fourth place and 0.08s behind Philippe who finished third (48.30s).
Jhon Sebastian Obando Asprilla from Colombia raced away with the gold medal after clocking 48.09s while David Jose Pineda Mejia from Spain took the silver with a time of 48.24s.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Ammar Aiman said his body felt sluggish after being in the call room for a long time before starting the run here.
He said, the situation apparently affected his running pace plus also with a feeling of nervousness performing in front of a large audience in the stadium.
“I am not used to sitting in the call room for a long time until my body was cold and many of the other participants also had cramps,” he said.
Thus, he hoped to improve his performance and remains determined to bring home gold for the country if he performs at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
In the meantime, the defending world champion, Muhammad Nazmi Nasri, did not succeed in shining in the men’s long jump event T37 (physical disability) after only finishing fifth with a distance of 6.00m on his second attempt.
The gold medal was won by Argentinian Brian Lionel Impellizzeri with a distance of 6.42m while silver was won by Samson Opiyo from Kenya (6.20m) and bronze by Mateus Evangelista Cardoso from Brazil (6.20m).
