Manchester sprinter Graeme Ballard stormed to a convincing victory at the Olympic Stadium to cap a memorable week for the Paralympian.
Ballard claimed 100m bronze at the World Championships in Lyon, as his world record was erased, but he was a class apart from his rivals at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.
World and Paralympic champion Evgenii Shvetcov, who broke Ballard’s world best, was not in the capital and London 2012 silver medallist Ballard quickly stamped his authority on the race, in front of a sell-out 65,000 crowd.
He got off to a flying start and beat his nearest rivals, British teammate Ben Rushgrove and Malaysia’s Mohammad Azlan Mat Lazin, by five clear metres in a time of 12.33 seconds.
“That felt really good,” said Ballard. “The atmosphere was absolutely incredible, I didn’t really know what to expect but that was every bit as good as last summer, it was electric when the roar started.
“I had a good world champs which put me good stead for this and I felt pretty fresh. It’s been really hot in France so it was nice to have some cooler conditions and I think that helped.
“I hopefully executed the race how my coach would have liked and we’ll sit down and talk it through.
“I can’t have any complaints about my season, winning a medal at the worlds was the aim and everything we’ve planned for has gone well.”
The Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games is the final event in the Sainsbury’s Summer Series. For more information on Sainsbury’s support of world class athletics and disability sport go to www.sainsburys-live-well-for-less.co.uk/occasions/anniversary-games/
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