Venue: Charlety Stadium, Paris Dates: 8-17 July |
Coverage: Daily reports across BBC Sport |
Scottish teenager Ben Sandilands produced a devastating late burst to claim T20 1500m gold at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris.
The Fife AC athlete moved up from fifth over the final 250m to challenge leader Mikey Brannigan of the United States.
The 19-year-old accelerated past the Rio Paralympic gold medallist at the bend to win in a new championship record of three minutes 42.52 seconds.
“I came in thinking I could win a medal and I did,” he told BBC Sport.
Sandilands was making his Great Britain debut in the race for athletes with intellectual impairments alongside training partners Owen Miller, the Paralympic champion, and Steven Bryce – with the trio all trained by Steve Doig.
Both Miller and Sandilands were well placed at the bell but Brannigan moved clear and looked to be on course for his third world title after his wins in 2015 and 2017.
However, Sandilands’ closing speed proved crucial as he finished clear of the American (3:53.50) with Portugal’s Sandro Baessa third (3:54.04). Miller and Bryce were seventh and 13th respectively.
It brings GB’s gold medal tally to nine, with the competition scheduled to finish on Monday evening.
“It feels amazing,” Sandilands added.
“There was a lot of bumping and pushing, which made it hard to keep my rhythm – but I always knew I had that speed at the end of the race.
“A lot of hard work has gone into getting here and we all encourage each other and push each other on, but I am exhausted now.”