KOBE, Japan, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhou Hongzhuan won the gold medal in the women's 800m T53 final at the Para Athletics World Championships here on Sunday.
Zhou, 35, passed the finish line in one minute 56.54 seconds at the Universiade Memorial Stadium in the central Japanese port city of Kobe, overtaking her teammate Gao Fang who clocked 2:03.14 for the silver medal.
Both wheelchair racers, despite the drizzle on Sunday, scored their seasonal bests. Turkish athlete Hamide Dogangun got the bronze.
In the following women's 800m T54 final, Chinese racers Zhou Zhaoqian and Tian Yajuan took silver and bronze, respectively, as the gold medal was taken by Merle Marie Menje of Germany.
The Kobe 2024 Para Athletics World Championships, held in East Asia for the first time, serve as a crucial qualifier for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The championships have attracted over 1,000 athletes from 100 countries and regions competing in 168 events.
A total of 73 Chinese para-athletes are competing in the nine-day championships, which run until May 25. Originally scheduled for 2021, the event was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ■
