Danielle Aitchison. Photo: photosport
New Zealand sprinter Danielle Aitchison has showcased her medal prospects by breaking the Paralympic Games 200m record on day three of competition in Paris.
The Morrinsville-born 23-year-old clocked 28.21 seconds at Stade de France, taking 0.1s off the previous Games mark and qualifying fastest for the final on Sunday night (NZT).
The time was substantially faster than when Aitchison won silver at the same event in Tokyo three years ago, when she recorded 29.88s.
Her main rival appears to be Tokyo gold medallist Shi Yiting, who was the second-fastest qualifier in 28.87s.
Aitchison arrived in Paris in sharp form, having set a world record when claiming 200m T64 classification gold at the Kobe 2024 para-athletics world championships in May.
Elsewhere, para cyclist Devon Briggs and para swimmer Tupou Neiufi both narrowly missed spots in their respective finals.
Riding with a fractured sacrum and dislocated coccyx following a pre-Games training crash, Briggs finished seventh in qualification for the Men's C1-3 1000m time trial - missing a spot in the final by one place.
The 20-year-old Kiwi, who claimed the world men's C3 1000m time trial title in Rio earlier this year, struggled to find his best, affected by the painful nature of his injuries.
New Zealand para-cyclist Devon Briggs. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
He covered the four laps of the at the Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines Velodrome in 1m 8.505s - a long way shy of his personal best 1m 5.259s.
"I'm gutted to miss the medal ride but that's all good, that is how sport goes sometimes," Briggs said.
"Getting into the gate I felt confident but from first pedal stroke I just felt my sacrum go and I felt the pain instantly. It was a hard ride from there."
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
There was disappointment for Neiufi In the defence of her women's S8 100m backstroke title from Tokyo.
The Auckland-based swimmer made a good start in heat two and placed third at the 50m mark. However, she faded to fifth in the second half of the race, clocking 1m 23.49s to place ninth overall - one place shy of a final berth.
Wojtek Czyz completed his para badminton campaign with a 21-8, 21-12 defeat to Daisuke Fujihara of Japan, eliminating him from competition with three defeats from three.
