Paralympics: Kiwi sprinter Danielle Aitchison scorches to world record in Japan

New Zealand sprinter Danielle Aitchison has backed up her silver medal with recordbreaking gold at the Para Athletics World Championships in Japan.

Aitchison blitzed the field in the women's 200m T36 gold with a world record mark of 27.47s to retain her crown in style.

The 22-year-old Hamiltonian wiped a staggering 0.70s from the previous record, in doing so exacting revenge on her Chinese rival Yiting Shi, who claimed gold ahead of Aitchison in the women's 100m T36 on Monday.

In a measure of the quality of the race, Shi ran an Asian record of 28.06s - some 0.11s under her previous world record mark, which was firmly erased from the record books courtesy of Aitchison's effort. The podium was rounded out by Mali Lovell of Australia, who clocked 29.81.

Trailing Shi by a couple of metres entering the home straight, the Aitchison did not panic, gradually closing the gap on her Chinese opponent midway down the home stretch, before accelerating clear to victory.

An ecstatic Aitchison says she was startled by her winning time.

"It is so amazing," said Aitchison. "I can't believe it.  

"I learned a lot from the 100m, I learned to run my own race and be ready to go when the gun goes and that's what I managed to execute in the 200m. The aim was [to] focus on myself - and I felt I did exactly that.

"Coming across the line I did not expect to run such a time. I was totally mind blown by the time."

Aitchison, whose previous personal best was 28.19s set at the NZ national championships in Wellington in March, can now look ahead to the Paris Paralympic Games with optimism after enjoying a hugely successful championship in Kobe.

"It gives me a lot of confidence going into Paris," she said.  

"There are still some things to work on, but I am ahead of where I thought I was. It gives me the confidence that I can do even better at the Paralympics."

New Zealand sprinter Danielle Aitchison has backed up her silver medal with recordbreaking gold at the Para Athletics World Championships in Japan.

Aitchison blitzed the field in the women's 200m T36 gold with a world record mark of 27.47s to retain her crown in style.

The 22-year-old Hamiltonian wiped a staggering 0.70s from the previous record, in doing so exacting revenge on her Chinese rival Yiting Shi, who claimed gold ahead of Aitchison in the women's 100m T36 on Monday.

In a measure of the quality of the race, Shi ran an Asian record of 28.06s - some 0.11s under her previous world record mark, which was firmly erased from the record books courtesy of Aitchison's effort. The podium was rounded out by Mali Lovell of Australia, who clocked 29.81.

Trailing Shi by a couple of metres entering the home straight, the Aitchison did not panic, gradually closing the gap on her Chinese opponent midway down the home stretch, before accelerating clear to victory.

An ecstatic Aitchison says she was startled by her winning time.

"It is so amazing," said Aitchison. "I can't believe it.  

"I learned a lot from the 100m, I learned to run my own race and be ready to go when the gun goes and that's what I managed to execute in the 200m. The aim was [to] focus on myself - and I felt I did exactly that.

"Coming across the line I did not expect to run such a time. I was totally mind blown by the time."

Aitchison, whose previous personal best was 28.19s set at the NZ national championships in Wellington in March, can now look ahead to the Paris Paralympic Games with optimism after enjoying a hugely successful championship in Kobe.

"It gives me a lot of confidence going into Paris," she said.  

"There are still some things to work on, but I am ahead of where I thought I was. It gives me the confidence that I can do even better at the Paralympics."

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