Paris Paralympics: Simran finishes fourth in women's 100m - T12 final, misses medal (Ld)

Paris, Sep 6 (IANS): India's Simran Sharma missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the Women's 100m—T12 final in the Paralympic Games in Paris here on Thursday. Simran clocked 12.31 seconds in the four-player final. She made a great effort in the final but could not get into the medal position as she was hampered by a slow start and could not make up for it.

Omara Elias Durand of Cuba, who finished in a season-best timing of 11.81 seconds, won the gold medal; Oksana Boturchuk of Ukraine, who took silver in 12.17, her best for the season while Katrin Nueller-Rottgardt of Germany, who claimed the bronze medal in 12.26 seconds.

Simran, who ran with guide Abshay Singh, had a slow start and could not recover from it as she clocked 12.31 seconds.

Earlier, Simran qualified for the women's 100m -T12 final after finishing second in the semifinal 2, clocking 12.33 seconds at the Stade de France on Thursday.

The 24-year-old reigning world champion Simran finished second behind Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt of Germany in the semifinal 2.

Simran sealed her place in the final as the third-fastest runner. As per the rule, the first-placed runner in each semifinal and the next 2 fastest advanced to the final. Omara Durand of Cuba topped the first semifinal.

Overall, Omara finished first across two semifinals with a timing of 12.01 seconds, followed by Mueller-Rottgardt of Germany (12.26 seconds) and Simran (12.33). Oksana Boturchuk of Ukraine was the fourth and the last fastest runner to seal the place in the final after clocking 12.36 seconds. She finished second in her semifinal.

Simran was born prematurely and spent the next 10 weeks in an incubator where it was discovered that she is visually impaired. Coached by her husband Gajendra Singh, who works for the Army Service Corps, she trains at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. She has come a long way from being mocked for her visual impairment to winning gold in the recent World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe and now in the Paralympics final. She finished 11th in 100m - T13 at the Tokyo Para Games in 2021 with a timing of 12.69.

Simran’s hard work and resilience helped her overcome physical and socio-economic challenges as she clinched the T12 200m gold in style at the World Championships in Japan in June. Since 2022, Simran has won the National Championship and the Indian Open in the 100m and 200m. She also won two silver medals in the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year.

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