GB's Pembroke wins javelin gold with new world record

Daniel Pembroke threw more than four metres further than silver medallist Ali Pirouj of Iran

Great Britain's Daniel Pembroke smashed the world record in the men's F13 javelin as he retained his Paralympic title in Paris.

The 33-year-old threw 74.49 metres with his fourth effort at Stade de France on Thursday.

That bettered the previous record of 71.01m - set by Aleksandr Svechnikov of Uzbekistan in 2017 - by 3.48m.

Pembroke had already broken Svechnikov's mark with an effort of 71.15m from his third throw, before going even further.

The Briton retains the title he won three years ago in Tokyo, having also won two world titles since the last Games.

His gold rounded off a successful evening of athletics for ParalympicsGB, after Sammi Kinghorn won her fourth medal in Paris with silver in the women's T53 400m.

In the morning session, Anna Nicholson was "over the moon" to win bronze in the women's F35 shot put amid heavy rain.

She made light of the conditions to throw 9.44 metres - just 3cm short of her personal best - and claim third place.

However, team-mate Olivia Breen missed out on a Paralympic medal by the tightest of margins in the women's T38 long jump.

Breen's best jump was 4.99 metres, level with bronze medal winner Karen Palomeque Moreno of Colombia.

But because Palomeque Moreno's second best jump of 4.89m was longer than Breen's 4.79m, the South American made it on to the podium.

Maddie Down came sixth behind Breen in the T38 long jump, while Funmi Oduwaiye finished fifth in the women's F64 shot put.

In the evening, GB's Nathan Maguire narrowly missed out on a medal in the men's T54 800m, as he finished fourth just 0.11secs behind bronze medallist Marcel Hug of Switzerland.

Melanie Woods was sixth in the women's 400m T54 final, while Dan Greaves and Harrison Walsh finished sixth and seventh respectively in the men's F64 shot put.

GB's Marcus Perrineau Daley progressed to the final of the men's T52 100m by finishing second in his heat with a new personal best of 16.87 seconds.

'The crowd was my secret weapon'

Pembroke's throw in the Paralympic final broke the previous world record by more than three metres

Pembroke has come to dominate his discipline since returning to athletics following a seven-year break, having sustained an injury while trying to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics.

With his eyesight deteriorating, he chose to leave sport behind - but returned to Para-sport in 2019, competing against other visually impaired athletes.

Nowhere has that dominance been more obvious than on Thursday night in Paris, where he set records on top of records to the astonishment and delight of the crowd.

Pembroke revelled in the atmosphere, celebrating wildly after both world records before whipping up the crowd for his final effort - a victory throw, with gold already assured.

"I've never had anything like that before in my life," he said. "The crowd just got behind me, that was my secret weapon. I've got a taste of it and I want some more ' LA here I come.

"That crowd out there was so good to me, I wanted to do a lap of honour to celebrate them sharing it with me.

"It will stay with me for the rest of my life. You had people all around the world, getting the same joy I was getting, it was brilliant."

Pembroke admitted even he was surprised to have thrown further than 74 metres, but feels he is now capable of even more following a recent diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a condition that causes joint pain if untreated.

"I've had no pain in my body for two months," he said. "I've changed my diet, got the right medication. If I get a year's training behind me, who knows what can happen."

Iran'’s Ali Pirouj took silver as he threw 69.74m - nearly five metres off Pembroke - while Ulcier Aguilera Cruz of Cuba won bronze.

Kinghorn wins fourth medal - and finally enjoys herself

Sammi Kinghorn now has six Paralympic medals, with two in Tokyo and four in Paris

After medalling in all four of her events in Paris, Kinghorn says she has finally learned to enjoy competing for the first time.

The 28-year-old added to the gold she won in the 100m on Wednesday night, as well as the silvers she earned in the T53 800m and T54 1500m.

Catherine Debrunner, who Kinghorn beat in the 100m final, got a measure of revenge by winning gold - her fourth of these Games - in a new Paralympic record time of 51.60 seconds, as 2016 champion Zhou Hongzhuan of China took bronze.

Kinghorn, who said she had been up until 3am after winning her first Paralympic gold the previous night, said she had made a conscious effort to enjoy these Games more than Tokyo, where she claimed two medals.

"It's been amazing, I've done a lot better than I thought I would coming in," she said.

"It's definitely been my best Games by far. You can get wrapped up and quite nervous, I have never really enjoyed the whole experience.

"I just wanted to enjoy this, you never know if it will be your last Games. Sometimes I can be quite bad at taking myself off and not socialising because I get quite nervous, I don’t want to do that.

"We have been playing a lot of games of Monopoly Deal, it has been getting quite competitive, a lot of games through the team.

"As I have got older, I have realised it is not the medals which are making you happy. At Tokyo I thought 'if I win a Paralympic medal I'll be the happiest person ever', then I came away and I realised they haven't made me any happier. So going into these Games that's what I wanted to make sure of - that I was happy."

Kinghorn has plans to combat the post-Games blues this time - she is going to Singapore to watch Formula One in the coming weeks - but before then she is going to celebrate with her family.

"My dad is my biggest fan, and the person who thinks I can conquer the world," she said.