Two golds for hosts France close World Intellectual Impairment Sport Indoor Athletics Championships

Hosts France stole the show on the final day of the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Indoor Athletics Championships in Val-De-Reuil on Sunday (4 March), winning two golds.

Marion Candelier (11:35.50) upgraded her silver medal from the 2016 indoor Championships to gold in the women’s 3,000m. Leading throughout Candelier grabbed her first gold, cheered on by her home crowds.

Portugal’s Melissa Cardoso (16:55.87) was second.

Nicolas Virapin claimed his fourth gold in the men’s 200m II2. He took the tape in 30.63 seconds to add to his wins from the triathlon, 60m and long jump from Friday and Saturday.

Russia rounded off their Championships with a further four golds on Sunday.

Pavel Sarkeev (8:56.22) was the victor in the men’s 3,000m. Sarkeev made his move at the halfway mark, opening up his stride to take a dominant win. Portugal’s Jose Azevedo (9:02.62) matched his performance from 2016 with silver. France’s Rachid Boutashgount (9:04.32) did the same, retaining his bronze.

Artem Muratov (22.44), the new title holder and world record holder in the men’s 400m II1, doubled his gold medal haul in the 200m. In a closely fought race, Muratov just edged France’s Charles Antoine Kouakou (22.54). Gracelino Barbosa (22.79), the sole representative of Cape Verde, claimed his third medal of the weekend with bronze.

Anastasiia Glushkova (26.50) took the tape in the women’s 200m II1 with an impressive run that saw her finish one second ahead of Poland’s Karolina Kucharczyk (27.50). Czech Republic’s Veronika Skuhrovska (28.36) rounded-off the top three.

Concluding the competition and taking Russia’s medal total to four were Vladimir Samoliuk, Dmitri Makarov, Sarkeev and Muratov in the men’s 4x400m relay II1 (3:31.03).

Spain’s Fernando Batista, Franci Perez Carrera, Ruben Cortes and Jose Martinez Morote sealed the silver in 3:43.19.

The French team of Daniel Royer, Renaud Brelik, Saby Chevalme and Quentin Foratier (3:55.28) took bronze.

Two wins for Portugal to take team gold

Portugal bagged two golds medals to secure their place at the top of the women’s team standings with 54 points. They took 10 medals overall, finishing on the podium in all events. France were second with 36 points and Turkey third on 31 points.

Ana Filipe successfully defended her women’s long jump II1 title. Taking her first gold and fifth medal overall, the 18-year-old leapt 1.48m. Her teammate Claudia Santos (1.38m) was second ahead of Turkey’s Esra Bayrak (1.33m) with bronze.

Filipe also ran the anchor leg in the winning women’s 4x400m II1 relay, dipping in at 4:35.75. Compatriots Maria Fernandes, Santos and Raquel Cerqueira helped secure the gold.

Zuzana Svatkova, Teresa Titerova, Katarina Husakova and Skuhrovska (4:49.02) took silver for the Czech Republic.

Earlier in the women’s 800m II1, Husakova (2:27.83) made a successful break from the field to take victory. Completing the race in 2:27.83, Husakova was delighted with her performance, celebrating with a dance. Turkey’s Muhsine Gezer (2:29.58) tried to go with Husakova but settled for silver. Poland’s Agata Pitura (2:45.88) was third.

Poland’s Tycjan Kozdra cleared 1.81m in the men’s high jump II1 to secure the win. Two athletes, Norway’s Oivind Bjorn Berger and Spain’s Fernando Batista, jumped 1.68m and equalled each other’s jumps to both take silver. The podium is Berger’s second medal having taken gold in the pole vault on Saturday.

Spain finished on top of the men’s team standings with 64 points, mainly coming from an incredible seven golds. France just missed out on first place, ending with 63 points. Russia were third with 47 points.

Full results from all competition days are available.

The 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Indoor Athletics Championships ran from 2-4 March. Around 70 athletes from 13 countries competed.