Para athletes set records at the SASAPD Toyota National Championships

Mabote ran a new world record of 25.12 surpassing his previous personal best of 25.81 by over half a second.

READ: Asanda Hadebe finding her feet at Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies

The 19-year-old also set another African record in the men’s long jump T63 with a leap of 5.93 m. Mabote says he’s thrilled to have set another record yet again.

“I felt that I was world record ready, my record was taken from me last year or the year before, I was a little bit ticked off about that, I don't like my record being taken away from me but I knew I was going to get it back eventually. I managed to run a really fast time at the end of last year and my coach just told me to go for it, so yeah, I was just going for my record and I'm really, really happy about that," Mabote said.

"I was hoping to deep under 25 but unfortunately I couldn't because the bend did not agree with me but overall, the race was amazing. I managed to run with some fantastic competitors, that was a fantastic race. It was just an amazing environment in terms of competition and encouragement because my main goal for the tournament was just to get my record back and I did that. So, I'm happy about that."

Meanwhile, world record holder in the F38 discus event Simone Kruger set a new African record of 12.34m in the F38 class in the mixed class women’s shot-put event. 

"I think today went well - we figured out with the first few throws that my legs weren't as good as they should be on the day of the competition which is normally fine for the distance that I threw because without legs you don't normally throw twelves. So, I think I threw a great distance for how my body feels," Kruger said.

The event’s highlights saw a rejuvenated performance by Kerwin Noemdo, who equalled his own African record of F46 in the men’s shot put. 

Overall, seven African records were broken and two equalled while Mabote set a new world record. 

The championships were an opportunity for track and field athletes to better their Para Athletics world rankings and increase their chance of selection for the upcoming World Championships and Paralympic Games which will take place in Paris from 28 August to 08 September.