Swiss Catherine Debrunner headlines with third gold of the competition at World Para Athletics Championships

Swiss wheelchair legend Catherine Debrunner became the first athlete to complete a hat-trick of world titles at the ongoing World Para Athletics Championships on Wednesday (October 1, 2025) morning even as lack of Indian interest kept even the handful of supporters turning up at the venue away.

With only two Indians in finals’ action, the spotlight was firmly on the foreign athletes and Catherine ensured there would be no lack of excitement on the track. She added the 1500m T54 to her 5000m and 800m T53 gold with a new championship record of 3:16.81. She now has a chance to complete an incredible quintet with two sprint events to go in the competition.

Also setting a new C.R. was Russia’s Vladimir Sviridov, who also holds the world record, with a 17.01m throw in F36 shot put in his final attempt to edge past Tunisia’s defending champion Yassine Guenichi.

Hungary’s Luca Ekler set a new world record of 5.91m in the women’s long jump T38 in the morning session while USA’s Jaydin Blackwell bettered his own WR to clock 48 seconds in the men’s 400m T38 in the evening.

India’s Suchitra Parida, meanwhile, managed a 6th-place finish with a personal best of 18.29m in the javelin throw F56 but not before receiving an official warning and a yellow card under rule 6.16.1 for non-compliance of equipment. Akira Banothu in the men’s 400m T38 placed seventh with a time of 51.16s.

The results: Men: 100m T34: Chaiwat Rattana (Tha, 15.00s); 400m T38: Jaydin Blackwell (USA, 48.00s), Akira Banothu (7th, 51.16s); 400m T52: Tomoki Sato (Jpn, 54.21s); 800m T20: Ndiaga Dieng (Ita, 1:53.91); 5000m T13: Aleksandr Kostin with guide Iurii Kloptsov (NPA, 15:08.97); Long Jump T13: Ivan Blanco (Esp, 7.11m); Shot Put F20: Oleksandr Yarovyi (Ukr, 17.73m); Shot Put F32: Jasur Khodjaev (Uzb, 9.96m); Shot Put F36: Vladimir Sviridov (NPA, 17.01m); Javelin Throw F38: Jose Rivas (Col, 60.94m).

Women: 100m T11: Jerusa Geber with guide Gabriel Garcia (Bra, 11.81s); 100m T34: Hannah Cockroft (GBR, 17.28s); 100m T37: Xiaoyan Wen (Chn, 12.93s); 100m T44: Victoria Levitt (GBR, 13.22s); 100m T63: Ambra Sabatini (Ita, 14.39s); 100m T64: Fkeur Jong (Ned, 12.29s); 400m T12: Anna Kulinich-Sorokina with guide Ilia Goncharov (NPA, 56.38s); 1500m T54: Catherine Debrunner (Sui, 3:16.81); Long Jump T38: Luca Ekler (Hun, 5.91m); Discus Throw F11: Enhui Xue (Chn, 39.51m); Javelin Throw F54: Elham Salehi (Iri, 17.06m); Javelin Throw F56: Diana Krumina (Lat, 26.18m), Suchitra Parida (6th, 18.29m).