Paralympic star Mohammed Hammadi settled for the silver medal as the hosts United Arab Emirates opened their campaign with three medals on the opening day of the Dubai 2022 World Para Athletics Grand Prix - 13th Fazza International Para Athletics Championships that was held between March 21 to 24, 2022.

However, it was Colombia’s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Jose Gregorio Lemos Rivas and Algeria’s Safia Djelal who stole the limelight on the opening day setting new world records on their way to win gold medals.

In men’s javelin final F12/13/38, the 30-year-old Lemos Rivas hurled the javelin to a distance of 60.58 m in his fourth throw, while Djelal throw the shot put to a distance of 11.56 m for a new world record in women’s shot Put F57 finals.

Besides there were eight other continental records on the day.

Hammadi, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics silver and bronze medallist, finished second to his arch rival Walid Ktila (1:44.33min) from Tunisia, the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist in 100m, in a closely fought men’s 800m wheelchair T34 finals. The UAE star finished the race in 1:44.47mins, just .14 milliseconds behind the Tunisian.

Great Britain’s Andrew Small took the bronze in 2:11.52mins.

“I am happy to finish second. I want to take step by step; first it was Sharjah International, now here. These small steps are important as I prepare for the big one, the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Everyone wants to win the gold, but the process to achieve it is more important. So, I am focusing on the process of attaining the gold and keeping myself calm and patient,” said Hammadi, who also has eyes on the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games gold.

UAE took the other two medals in men’s javelin wheelchair men final F33 through Ahmed Alhosani and Ahmed Almaazmi who claimed the silver and bronze medals with throws of 17.99 m and 17.21 m, respectively. Germany’s Daniel Scheil took the gold with a throw of 22.50 m.

Clean sweep for Thailand

Meanwhile, Thailand as expected claimed the 1-2-3 places in men's wheelchair 800m T53 final with their Tokyo 2020 Paralympic star Paeyo Pongsakom (1:38.36min) taking the gold ahead of Masaberee Arsae (1:41,25min) and Sopa Intasen (1:41.51min).

Among other top names, Great Britain’s women’s wheelchair racing legend Hannah Cockroft raced to the women’s 800m T34/53 gold in 1:53.26mins.

The Championships, hosted under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, kicked off the World Para Athletics’ Grand Prix season with around 500 para-athletes from 43 nations in action at the Dubai Club for People of Determination grounds this week.

The Championships hold significance as athletes will aim to achieve Minimum Qualification Standard for this July’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, this October.