One day after the sprinter from Acre Jerusa Geber, of the T11 (blind) class, surpassed the Paralympic world record of 100 meters, the Loterias Caixa Athletics Circuit was the scene this Sunday (26) of two other index breaks. In the javelin throw, Beth Gomes, from São Paulo, in the F53 class (wheelchair users), set a new international mark: 13.69 meters. The previous index – 11.89m – was obtained by the Ukrainian Lana Lediedieva, in 2021, at the Tokyo Paralympics. Who also shone today (26), on the last day of the Circuit, at the Paralympic Training Center (CTP), in São Paulo, was Ana Cláudia da Silva, from Pernambuco, in class T42 (lower limb disability, without use of prosthesis), reaching 4.13 m in the long jump. The previous index was 4.03m.
In the midst of the Paralympic cycle for Paris 2024, this weekend’s results are yet another incentive for high-performance athletes, such as Beth Gomes, 58, current world record holder in the shot put and discus throw (class F52) , as well as a gold medalist in the discus throw at the Tokyo Games.
“I’m coming from a very good preparation. But, with this change of class, it was a surprise for me. The javelin events are on the program of the Paris 2024 Games and I intend to dedicate myself a lot to seek a medal too, in addition to the discus, which is my main test”, said the athlete, diagnosed in the 1990s with multiple sclerosis, in a statement to the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB).
WORLD RECORD! ???
Ana Cláudia Silva set the new world record in the T42 long jump with the mark of 4m13 ?#LoteriasCaixa pic.twitter.com/UjPa0mOWoS
— Brazilian Paralympic Committee (@cpboficial) March 26, 2023
Ana Cláudia da Silva, from Recife, who competed in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, also celebrated her feat of surpassing the world index in the long jump.
“We were doing jumps close to that mark in training and today we were happy to achieve this feat. The athlete’s work is hard and arduous and reaching a world record is not overnight, “admitted Ana Cláudia, who suffered a fall and fractured her femur when she was six years old.
On Saturday (25), Jerusa Geber from Acre – medalist in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 – surpassed her own mark, the world record in the 100 m event of the T11 class (blind). Geber completed the distance in 11s83, lowering by two hundredths the index obtained by herself in 2019, also the CTP, in São Paulo.
In history, only three other athletes completed 100m in less than 12 seconds in the last four years: the Chinese Cuiqing Liu and Guohua Zhou, in addition to the British.
“I was already chasing the record at the Grand Prix in Marrakech [Marrocos], early March, which was the first competition of the year. But it was supposed to be done here, at my house. I really like this track and I feel good on it”, said Jerusa, who was born completely blind.
All world records still require homologation by Word Para Athletics (WPA), linked to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC, its acronym in English). The expectation is that the procedure will take place soon, since the Circuit meets all the criteria established by the IPC. Circuito Caixa, conceived and organized by the CPB, brought together 324 athletes this weekend (Saturday and Sunday), both on the track and on the CTP field, in São Paulo.