World Para-Athletics Championships: Maria Lyle and Sabrina Fortune wins gold
- Published
Lyle 'was fed up being unhappy'
Britain's Maria Lyle won her second gold medal of the World Para-Athletics Championships in Dubai with a dominant victory in the T35 200m as team-mate Sabrina Fortune won F20 shot put gold.
Lyle, 19, who was crowned 100m champion on Sunday, crossed the line in 30.33 seconds, almost two seconds ahead of Poland's silver medallist Jagoda Kibil.
Fortune, 22, won with a championship record 13.91 metres.
British team co-captain Richard Whitehead won silver in the T61 200m.
It is his sixth World Championship medal.
"I'm really happy," Scot Lyle said.
"We were waiting a little bit longer for the start so I started to get a bit nervous, but it was more about thinking about my race plan and trying to execute that."
Lyle's medal came just weeks after the three-time Paralympic medallist spoke of her mental health issues.
She made her World Para-Athletics Championships debut four years ago in Doha, then aged just 15, but said her experience this time round has been the best yet.
"It's all been about enjoying the moment," she said. "In the past, I've been quite guilty of not enjoying it and not actually thinking about the positives of what I've achieved.
"Being in a better place in my head, and not struggling with anxiety and depression, I'm able to enjoy the champs."
Wales' Fortune, who won bronze at the Rio 2016 Paralympics before being crowned European champion in 2018, shattered her previous personal best of 13.70m to win gold with her last throw.
Her medal is Great Britain's 11th gold of the championships in Dubai.
"It's amazing. I never thought I would see the day," she told BBC Sport. "Anything can happen.
"I thought [the last throw] was rubbish, I thought it was bad but when I saw everyone's reactions, I realised it was good."
At the end of the penultimate day of action in Dubai, Great Britain are third on the medal table with 24 in total.
'Performance gives me great pride'
Silver medal-winning Whitehead, who won four consecutive world golds in the T42 200m before changing classification to T61 in 2018, finished in 23.82 seconds as South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu won gold.
The two-time Paralympic champion, 43, is British co-captain alongside Kare Adenegan.
"To be captain and then to put out a performance gives me great pride," he told BBC Sport.
"This year has been quite tough, I've only raced two or three times. For me, it's about putting things into perspective.
"Being out here, representing my country, is something that from day one I was always very proud to do.
"I feel like I've still got something to offer and that's the reason I will be pushing on to Tokyo.
"There are still podiums to be won and performances to be had."
Elsewhere, Owen Miller finished sixth in the T20 1500m final while Ben Rowlings and Isaac Towers both progressed to the T34 800m final, which takes place on Friday.