Pongsakorn Paeyo, a wheelchair racer, has won Thailand’s first gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on Sunday.
Pongsakorn won gold in the men’s 400 metres T53 race in 46.61 seconds, followed by Brent Lakatos of Canada in second place with 46.75 seconds and Vitalii Gritsenko of Russia third in 49.41 seconds. His compatriot Thai Pichet Krungget finished fifth in 49.96 seconds.
Pongsakorn’s gold-winning effort also broke the previous world record of 46.82 seconds, set by Lakatos at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Pongsakorn had sailed through the preliminary rounds in 47.31 seconds.
Thailand is 34th on the medals table, with 1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. (NNT)
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