Mohammed Al Hammadi sets new Paralympic Games record in T34 800m to win UAE’s second gold

Mohammed Hammadi has won the UAE's second gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Rio.

Mohammed Al Hammadi celebrates after winning the T34 800m wheelchair race in a new Paralympic Games record time. Tasso Marcelo / AFP
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Mohammed Al Hammadi has picked up the UAE’s second gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Rio.

The Emirati won the T34 800m wheelchair race in a Games record of 1 minute, 40.24 seconds on Wednesday night (1.15am UAE time on Thursday), holding off the challenge of Tunisia’s Walid Ktila to cross the line first and claim his first Paralympic gold.

The success came after powerlifter Mohammaed Khalaf prevailed in the men's under-88kg class on Tuesday to win the UAE's first gold at the Games.

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It is Al Hammadi’s first Paralympic gold after he had won a silver medal in the 200m and a bronze in the 100m at the London Games in 2012.

Al Hammadi, 31, had earlier been disappointed with his fourth-place finish in the 100m final in Rio on Monday, but bounced back to take a gold medal 48 hours later in his second and final event in the competition.

The UAE now has five medals, their best haul at a Paralympic Games, with the three other medals won by Abdullah Sultan Al Aryani, who took silver in three of the four competitions he was in. The UAE are 31st in the overall medal table.

The Paralympic Games finish on Sunday.

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