Sport

Michael McKillop claims 1500m gold at World Championships

John Fitzsimons wins bronze at European Under-20 Championships in Grosseto, Italy

Ireland’s Michael McKillop wins the 1500m T37 Final during the 2017 Para Athletics World Championships at the Olympic Stadium in London. Photograph: Luc Percival/Sportsfile

Sun Jul 23 2017 - 19:53

Ireland’s Michael McKillop stormed to victory in the T37 1500m to claim a remarkable ninth World Championship gold medal in front of a huge crowd at the Para Athletics World Championships in London on Saturday night.

Capping another good day for the Irish, the Co Antrim athlete produced a sensational run in wet conditions to cross the line in a time of 4:36.38 to claim his second gold medal of the championships after his win in the 800m last weekend.

Taking the bell in the lead, McKillop and Canadian Liam Stanley pulled away from the chasing pack with Stanley making McKillop work hard going into the final 300m. But McKillop found an extra gear on the home straight and crossed the line over a second ahead of Stanley (4:37.96), with Algeria's Madjid Djemai (4:41.93) taking the bronze.

Speaking after the race the four-time Paralympic champion said: “I’m feeling fantastic, I think after five years of creating myself in para athletic sport and in this stadium at London 2012, it feels incredible. I have to enjoy these little moments.”

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Ireland's Deirdre Mongan was in action in the evening session in the F53 shot final where her best throw of 4.09m was unfortunately not enough to challenge for a medal and she finished seventh in an extremely competitive field. Bahrain's Fatema Nedham took gold with a throw of 4.73m.

On Sunday, Paul Keogan finished fifth for Ireland in the men's 400m T37 final.

Meanwhile in the European Under-20 Championships, John Fitzsimons crowned a promising tournament for Ireland with a bronze in the men’s 800m.

While the women’s 4x100m relay team of Molly Scott (St Laurence O’Toole), Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport), Gina Akpe-Moses (Blackrock-Louth) and Ciara Neville (Emerald) were a battling fourth in the final in a time of 44.47 seconds.

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