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Anna Grimaldi capped a memorable day three of the 2024 Para Athletics World Championships in Kobe, Japan for the New Zealand team by blasting to back-to-back world women’s 100m T47 bronze medals.
Following on from Will Stedman’s electrifying gold medal in the men’s 400m T36 earlier today, Grimaldi also came to the party to defy challenging wet conditions to climb the podium in a time of 12.72 (-0.5). Kiara Rodriguez of Ecuador mounted a successful defence of her title, stopping the clock in a rapid season’s best of 12.27 with Saska Sokolov of Serbia taking silver – 0.07 clear of the 27-year-old New Zealander.
On a wet night inside the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Grimaldi was drawn in the heart of the action in lane five and after making a solid start was always prominent in the battle for the podium positions.
While Rodriguez established an early advantage, the Dunedin-based athlete quickly emerged in a titanic tussle with Sokolov for the silver medal.
The Ecuadorian athlete would not be stopped in her quest for gold, extending her advantage to romp to a decisive win while Sokolov, despite the best efforts of Grimaldi, just clung on her silver.
Grimaldi, however, will be highly motivated by matching her performance from ten months ago at the 2023 Para Athletics World Championships in Paris – ahead of her specialty event, the women’s long jump T47 on Friday.
The New Zealand athlete, who has claimed two successive Paralympic gold medals in long jump, said: “I’m so stoked. My immediate thought is I know I can run faster, which is exciting for the Paralympic Games. I’m content with where I am at now, but excited by where I can get to.
“The conditions out there were like back home in Dunedin. We do a lot of sprinting in the rain it probably was an advantage to me.
“Looking ahead to the long jump final, today was cool. I’ve got a bit more speed to gain and I feel more confident in my long jump. I’m excited to get out there, compete and see where I am at.”
***For a video interview with Anna Grimaldi go here https://we.tl/t-AflOIPETTR
***The solo Kiwi to compete on day four of the 2024 Para Athletics World Championships on Monday (20 May) is Danielle Aitchison who competes in the women’s 100m T36 final at 10.22pm.
***For more details on the team and a full schedule of when the Kiwis compete go here
***To follow a livestream of the action at the 2024 Para Athletics World Championships in Kobe go to the Para Athletics Facebook page or visit the IPC YouTube channel.
***For live results go here
***Athletics New Zealand will provide session by session wraps when the Kiwis compete and also provide detailed updates via our social channels.