Sprinter David Prince set a world record in the 200m (T44 – single, transtibial amputation or athletes who can walk with moderately reduced function in one or both legs) race and bested his 400m (T44) race world record at the 2013 U.S. Paralympics Track and Field National Championships, which were held at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, June 14-16. Prince ran the 200m in 22.47 seconds beating the 22.49 second world record set by South Africa’s Arnu Fourie at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. In the men’s 400m, Prince clocked 49.87 to top the 50.61 world record he set at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Jarryd Wallace took second place in the 200m (T44) with a time of 23.02 while Jerome Singleton, who was fifth in the 200m in London, finished third with a time of 23.33. In the men’s 400m (T44), Blake Leeper ran a 52.05 and Trenten Merrill ran 53.89.
Leeper, a bronze medalist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, won the men’s 200m (T43 – bilateral, transtibial amputation or combined arm/leg amputations) race with a time of 23.09.
World record holder Jeremy Campbell, who has a right transtibial amputation, won the men’s discus (F44) with a throw of 61.46m, and second-place finisher Brazilian Marco Lima Borges threw 46.80m. Campbell’s world record is 63.46m.
Richard Browne, who has a knee injury and has been off crutches for only two weeks, competed in the T44 category, but withdrew from the 200m to focus on the 100m race. He was unable to finish due to an apparent hamstring injury. Running in an unsanctioned competition, Browne had tied the 10.85 world record in the 100m on June 8.
This competition helps determine the United States team for the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships to be held July 19-28, in Lyon, France. Team members will be selected by June 18.