Team Captain Libby Leikis was in excellent form on the first day of the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland.
On a hot day in the stadium near Lucerne she reduced her New Zealand T37 200m record, running a superb 32.54, and placing seventh in the event.
The 19 year old student from Wellington, running in the under 20 grade, was very excited to run her first event at the championships.
"It was pretty hard out in the heat today. There was a long wait for the event which started 45 minutes late. I went out really hard in the first half of the race but started to feel it towards the end but I just really tried to push though it towards the end of the race," Leikis said.
However Leikis said she was really happy with her race.
"With the event being mixed class I knew I needed to run my own race, and ended up coming away with a personal best and NZ record by half a second," she said.
Leikis left NZ with a best time of 33.53 reducing that time to 33.16 in a meeting on the Gold Coast in preparation for the Notwill championships.
The other Kiwi athlete in action on the first day of the championships, Anna Steven, also produced a personal best, running in the under 18 T42-47 200m with a time of 33.65, finishing sixth.
The 16 year old Auckland student only started competing in Athletics in February this year after being inspired by the 2016 Rio Paralympic athletics team. Her first World Championships has been a different environment but a great atmosphere
"It is awesome to be part of the first World Para Athletics Junior Championships," Stevens said. "It has been exciting to wear the silver fern and I'm looking forward to running tomorrow in the 100m."
- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Athletics New Zealand
Leikis in record breaking form at World Para Athletics Junior Champs
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