UAE's Noura Al Ketbi narrowly misses out on Paralympics medal

Rio silver medalist finishes fourth in F32 women’s shot put in Tokyo

UAE's Noura Al Ketbi competes in F32 women's shot put at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Getty

It was a bittersweet day for UAE's Noura Al Ketbi as she narrowly missed out on a medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games on Wednesday.

The Emirati hurled a Paralympic record 6.49-metre throw in the F32 women’s shot put but all of her competitors who finished ahead of her delivered world record efforts.

Anastasiia Moskalenko of Ukraine took gold with a world record 7.61m throw. Poland’s Roza Kozakowska, with a personal best 7.37m, and Evgeniia Galaktionova of the Russian Paralympic Committee (6.80m) took silver and bronze, respectively.

Al Ketbi, 28, won silver at Rio 2016 and was the first one out on Wednesday in a field of eight. She began with a 5.74m effort and then bettered it to 6.20m before the Paralympic record throw in her penultimate round.

She then had to wait anxiously for the rest of the field to complete their throws. There was disappointment at the end as Al Ketbi was denied bronze by the final competitor in the event.

“I knew three of the last four had better records than me but it still is disappointing when you are so close to a medal and then lose it,” Al Ketbi said.

“Having said that, I still can take some comfort in finishing fourth because all three in front of me hurled world record throws. Obviously a very strong lineup this time.”

Earlier in the day, shooters Saif Al Nuaimi and Abdulla Sultan Al Aryani both failed to make the cut in the mixed 10m air rifle, finishing 25th and 37th respectively. Maryam Al Zeyoudi didn’t finish in the women’s discus F41.