CWMBRAN’S Kyron Duke has another shot at Paralympic Games glory in Rio tomorrow when he goes in the F41 javelin final.
Duke’s second chance of claiming a medal comes three days after he threw 11.41m to finish fifth in the shot put.
That resulted mirrored his final placing in the same event at London 2012, where he also came eighth in the javelin.
And if tomorrow’s final is anything like the one four years ago then the crowd in the Olympic Stadium are in for a real treat.
The world record was broken four times at the last Paralympics, with China’s Wang Zhiming eventually coming out on top thanks to a huge throw of 47.95m.
Then 19, Duke performed admirably, recording a personal best of 38.64m – and it looks like it will take another lifetime best and then some for the Welshman to get in the mix this time around.
Iraq’s Ahmed Naas and Wildan Nukhailawi, the silver and bronze medallists from London, are there again, as is reigning world champion Sun Pengxiang from China.
Duke, who was born with achondroplasia, was slightly below his best in the shot put final on Thursday, with his 11.41m nearly a metre off the medals.
China’s Xia Zhiwei took bronze with 12.33m but there was a battle royal for the gold.
It appeared to be heading to Poland after world record holder Bartosz Tyszkowski registered 13.56m in the third round.
But Germany’s Niko Kappel had other ideas and he snatched first place in the penultimate round, edging ahead of the Pole by just one centimetre.
Tyszkowski did have one last chance to usurp Kappel with his final effort but it wasn’t to be.
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