Sabrina Fortune, 28, smashed her own para shot put world record to win a fourth consecutive global title in New Delhi. Competing in the F20 class, the Welsh thrower opened with 16.75m — a full metre beyond her previous best — and backed up her Paris Paralympic gold with another World Championship crown.
Her first-round throw, cheered by a packed corner of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, proved untouchable; she won by almost three metres despite not improving in later rounds. Fortune said the atmosphere — ‘the loud noises, the drums’ — was ‘something amazing’.
Fortune hopes her performance will inspire children with disabilities in India: ‘I’d love this to make Indian children with a disability go: “look at that, they can do it”. We don’t have enough athletes coming through.’ She added that she embraces her role as a visible example of what a person with a learning disability can achieve.
Looking ahead, Fortune admitted she ‘wasn’t expecting that far’, having targeted 16m this season and 17m towards Los Angeles in three years. ‘You can never have too many world records,’ she said, adding she is ‘over the moon’ with the result.
