Defending champion Irmgard Bensusan missed a medal at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris. The 32-year-old from Leverkusen finished sixth in the T64 starting class in 13.12 seconds over 100 meters, 17 hundredths were missing from the bronze medal. Long jumper Nele Moos, on the other hand, surprisingly won precious metal.
In the final of the T38 class, the 21-year-old from Leverkusen jumped 4.65 m to third place in the fourth attempt, beating her personal best by two centimeters. Already with her third jump (4.62), Moos had scratched her previous top value.
The strong German long jump final was rounded off by Friederike Brose (16) with 4.41 m and fourth place. The Hungarian Luca Ekler, who defended her title with a world record of 5.77 m, catapulted herself to gold. Silver went to Britain’s Olivia Breen (5.04).
Fleur Jong from the Netherlands (12.47 seconds) was by far the fastest sprinter over 100 m, while Sara Andres Barrio from Spain (12.83) and Marissa Papaconstantinou (12.95) from Canada completed the podium.
Despite missing the title defense, Bensusan was satisfied with her performance and said she was “super proud” of herself: “The first 80 meters were good, it was a good start. It’s a very good time for the season I’ve had .” Bensusan won gold in the 100m and 200m in Dubai in 2019 and silver in both distances at the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo.
The German team now has seven medals (2x gold, 2x silver, 3x bronze). In the morning, shot putter Sebastian Dietz with 14.44 m in fourth place missed the precious metal in the F36 starting class, missing bronze by more than a meter. Up-and-coming hope Merle Menje ended up fifth for the third time in the title fights in the Charlety Stadium, over 1500 m in a racing wheelchair was 73 hundredths missing to bronze.
The Para Athletics World Championships (until July 17) is a kind of dress rehearsal for next year’s Paralympics (August 28 to September 8, 2024), which will also take place in the French capital. At the previous World Championships in Dubai in 2019, the German team had won eleven precious metals in ninth place (7x gold, 2x silver, 2x bronze).