Live: James Turner claims Paralympics gold and world record in 400m T36

Hey LPS – that final included a world record, three area records, two PBs, and a season’s best. So fair to say the entire field was on fire!

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Australia’s Jamieson Leeson and Dan Michel, both fresh off silver medals in their individual events, have put in a professional performance in their opening pool match against Sonia Heckel and Jules Menard of France.

A convincing 4 points in the 2nd end proved to be the difference for the Aussie’s, with France winning both the 1st and 3rd ends by 1 point.

The French required a near perfect run in the fourth, but never really threatened to overturn Jam and Dan’s lead.

With the game in their hands, the Australian’s reverted to sensible, defensive boccia.

The Australian’s are back on court in only a matter of hours, when they take on Japan at 4:10am AEST.

James Turner is still soaking up his gold medal triumph in the men’s 400m T36.

Amazingly it came despite the fact he’s been dealing with glandular fever.

“My head hurts but otherwise (feeling) pretty bloody good,” he told the Nine Network.

“I felt decent going down the 100 metres, I had no idea I’d break the world record till I crossed the line,” he said.

“We had a perfect training regime I can’t be more proud.

The Canberra-based champion also praised his coach, Iryna Dvoskina, for her guidance.

“It’s been a tough year, we’ve gone through some troubles, but thank you Iryna you got me through it, you got me better than I’ve ever been before.

“I’m proud to be an Australian.”

Despite losing the third end by one, Australia’s Jamieson Leeson and Dan Michel went into the fourth and final end 4-2 up.

The Aussie’s can afford to play defensively for the remainder of the match, and their red ball is currently closest to the jack.

So, it’s looking pretty good.

But, as we’ve seen already at these Games, boccia matches have a tendency to surprise you.

Aussie Amanda Jennings won her first match in the 1/16 stage a short time ago, against Indonesia’s Wahyu Retno Wulandari. But her reward for that was a meeting with the Italian top seed Elisabetta Mijno.

Unfortunately for Jennings, Mijno was pretty dialled in and took that match 6-0 after just three sets.

It’s tense out there.

Jam and Dan are still in a strong position, but a strong shot from Sonia Heckel, accompanied by a delighted “oui!” may have started turning the tide France’s way on the back of the third end.

You can hear pretty much everything the athletes are saying on the court.

So much thought, so much strategy, so much consideration goes into every shot.

Now that is quite something! Natalie Smith found herself well back of the top eight qualification spots after two stages of the R8 women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1, but has lit up the standing portion to sneak into the final position.

Smith’s final will begin at midnight tonight (AEST), but she will feel like a champion already having held her nerve to come from behind and earn a place among the best of the best.

Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner has won her third gold of these Games – a dominant victor in the women’s T54 1,500m. 

She led from the start and then went up a gear on the final lap, to add to her 800m and 5,000m crowns.

Madison de Rozario finished 5th, with her main event – the marathon still to come.

There was some drama in the race with Switzerland’s Manuela Schaer and China’s Zhou Zhaoqian crashing, but it happened away from the leading pack, and they were able to finish the race.

It’s not quite enough for a medal for Bridget Murphy, but it will be enough to ensure she qualifies for the freestyle event later on.

She’s in fourth place at the moment with a few more riders to come, but both Murphy and her team watching on seem ecstatic with that performance. No applause at the equestrian of course – we wouldn’t want to spook the horses – but plenty of smiles and waves from an appreciative crowd.

Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner has taken the race out hard and decided she wants to control the pace. 

Madison de Rozario is sitting in the middle of the pack, but importantly isn’t boxed in so will have a chance to push hard to the finish.

Australia’s Jamieson Leeson and Dan Michel have come roaring back in the second end of their mixed pairs BC3 matchup with France.

They lost the first end 1-0, but a really composed second end has the score at 4-1 to the Aussie’s.

Jam and Dan were on top for pretty much the entirety of that end.

France was always playing catchup after a strong first shot from Michel.

The third end has now begun.

Aussies everywhere will still be celebrating James Turner’s glorious gold, but now we switch focus to Madison de Rozario who gets her shot at a medal in the women’s T54 1,500m final.

Of course she’s a marathon specialist so she’s not the favourite for this one, but she’s an exceptional competitor and will be hoping to at least match her bronze in this event from Tokyo.

Fascinating stuff early on in Dan Michel and Jamieson Leeson’s mixed pairs BC3 matchup with France.

As expected, the tie is being played in front of a pretty partisan home crowd.

Every French ball is being cheered and sporadic refrains of “Allez les Bleus” are rippling through the South Paris Arena.

For a sport so dependent on painstaking concentration, you wonder the effect it is having on both sets of athletes.

The first end was tight, it swung back and forth and took until it’s very end for France to come out on top.

Jam and Dan are looking composed, though, and are only 1-0 down.

They’ve just started the second end with a great shot that nuzzles their ball right up against the jack.

James Turner has defended is Paralympic gold medal in the men’s 400m T36 final, and he’s done it with a world record to boot!!

A perfectly executed race from the 28-year-old.

He had a relatively slow start, but by the time he hit the final bend he exploded and streaked away from the field for an emphatic victory.

He broke his own world record, setting a new mark of 51.54 seconds.

New Zealand’s Will Stedman, the man who beat him to gold at this year’s World Championships, claims silver, and Argentina’s Alexis Sebastian Chavez takes bronze.

He’s coached by Iryna Dvoskina – considered amongst the world’s greatest Para athletics mentors, and she was celebrating in the stands.

Turner has now won gold at three straight Paralympics, his first came in Rio 2016 in the 800m, and now he has back-to-back 400m golds.

A scintillating run and glorious moment for a supreme athlete.

James Turner has been introduced at the Stade de France for the men’s 400m T36 final.

He’s the defending champ, and has a huge smile, some very slick shades, and looks like a man ready for the moment.

His coach, the legendary Iryna Dvoskina, is watching on.

Silver medallists in the singles, Australia’s Jamieson Leeson and Dan Michel are about to team up for their first mixed doubles BC3 match against France.

Since an early exit in Tokyo, Jam and Dan have built a mixed pairs juggernaut.

Numerous titles and a world number one ranking suggest a first ever boccia gold medal could still be in the offing for Australia…