Barros Dethrones Barbara & Breaks 15-Year-Old World Record in T20 Women’s 1500m

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The sixth day of the IndianOil 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi witnessed history being made in the Women’s T20 1500m.

A rain delay did little to dampen the charged atmosphere inside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The crowd erupted as a world-class lineup entered the track: Paralympic medalists Liudmyla Danylina (UKR), Antonia Keyla da Silva Barros (BRA), Hannah Taunton (GBR), five-time Paralympic champion Barbara Bieganowska-Zajac (POL), Annabelle Colman (AUS), Kako Taunton (GBR), Kaitlin Bounds (USA), Yuna Fujiwara (JPN), Florianne Lantoine (FRA), and Pavlina Absolonova (CZE).

As expected, Barbara — the reigning World and Championship record holder — surged ahead, leading the race with her trademark control. But towards the final lap, Brazil’s Antonia Silva Barros began to close the gap. With sheer determination and explosive acceleration, she stormed past the Polish legend, crossing the line with a massive 10-second lead.

In doing so, Barros ended Barbara’s long-standing dominance, breaking her golden streak that stretched across a decade — and broke her 15-year-old World Record from 2012 (4:23.37) with a sensational 4:19.22.

Speaking to Virtus, an emotional Barros said:
“I studied Barbara’s style of running very hard. She has the same strategy as me, and she will run the same as me so I had to do something different towards the end to defeat her, and that’s what I did today. It was a lifetime experience for me with this great win. I will keep working hard to become the world champion again.”

Outlining her plan, she explained, “I was expecting to be in front in the first 800m or 600m because I knew she is very strong with her finish, so I didn’t want her to have the chance to win in the last minute. So my strategy was to run fast and stay with her from the beginning and run as fast as I can in the end.”

Barros dedicated her historic medal to a loved one,  “I would like to dedicate this medal to my grandmother. She is not with us anymore but the strength I have comes from her. She gave me the power to come here and win.”

And on her celebration plans, “I will celebrate this medal with my team, my coach, my physio and my girlfriend tonight. When I go back to Brazil, I want to go to a waterfall and enjoy, to be offline and rest a bit because I really need it.”

Barbara secured silver in 4:29.60, while Australia’s Annabelle Colman claimed bronze with 4:35.56.

Full results can be accessed from here.