James Turner has set the tone for Australia's most successful day of the 2023 world para athletics championships in Paris winning sprint gold, as Mali Lovell, Maria Strong and Vanessa Low added three more medals.
Returning to the top of the world in the 100m T36 after his first defeat at the Tokyo Paralympics, Turner (ACT) clocked 11.85 (-0.3) en route to his second gold medal of the week on Day 7.
Recovering from a slow start, he finished just 0.13-seconds outside of his world record to win from Algeria's Mokhtar Didane (11.99).
"I feel like I pulled my adductor three steps in so to be able to come home like that, I'm really happy. After Tokyo, I came home with the mindset that I'm not going to let anything stop me," Turner said.
"It feels really good. My preparation wasn't at its best while I was focussing on studying for life post-sport so I'm really fortunate and really proud to have won the gold medal."
Nineteen-year-old Lovell (NSW) completed her debut world titles with a silver in the 200m T36, racing to a career-best 30.19 against a headwind while Abby Craswell (Qld) was eighth in a personal best 32.96.
"This is amazing," said Lovell. "It means everything to me. We've got another year to prepare for the Paralympics, so I will train hard and aim for that."
Backing up her gold on Day 1 in the 100m T72, Strong (Vic) swapped the track for the field and secured silver in the shot put F33 with a Oceania record throw of 6.82m.
" have actually thrown past my Tokyo medal performance five times since January now, so I must be doing something right," Strong said.
Competing for the first time on the world stage as a mother to one-year-old Matteo, two-time Paralympic champion Low (ACT) claimed a bronze medal in the long jump T63, adding a fifth world championships medal to her collection.
Leaping 4.90m in the sixth round to miss out on silver by just one centimetre, with husband and coach Scott Reardon on hand, Low reflected on how far she'd come since jumping for the first time in February.
"No one understands how long of a journey it was and how hard of a journey it was," Low said.
"There was a long period of time where I couldn't walk and pregnancy was pretty tough for me. We had to adapt and we had to make it work, and standing here today with a medal means everything and more."
Australia's wheelchair racers were led by Samuel Carter (ACT) who was fifth fastest in the 100m T54 athlete with a heat time of 14.21. Luke Bailey (NSW) missed a spot in the final by just 0.02s with a time of 14.66.
Samuel McIntosh (Vic) blazed into Sunday's 100m T52 final, clocking 17.91to finish second in his heat.
Former world record-holder Angela Ballard (ACT) was sixth in the 400m T53, clocking 58.05 to close her ninth world championships appearance.
Perth teenager Jackson Hamilton (WA) was seventh in the Javelin F13 at his international debut, launching a 58.41m effort to fall 1.38m shy of the podium.
The results lift Australia to 12th place on the medal table at the conclusion after Saturday's action.
