Austin Ingram sets Canadian visually impaired record at WPA Championships

Austin Ingram is the young visually impaired runner from Petawawa, Ont. who won OFSAA gold in 2017 and 2018 and set a visually impaired record at 11.99 in the 100m in 2017. Today in his debut at the WPA Championships in Dubai, Ingram ran 11.03, finishing second in his heat of the men’s T13 100m, a personal best and faster than his pending Canadian record of 11.09. In the final just a couple of hours ago, Ingram brought his PB down even further, to 10.99, finishing just one-hundredth of a second off the podium.

Canada's Austin Ingram is through to the final of the men's 100m T13 later today, setting a personal best mark of 11.03 ?

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The race was won by the world and meet record-holder Jason Smyth of Ireland in 10.54, breaking his own previous meet record of 10.61. Chad Perris of Australia took silver in a season’s best 10.86 and Johannes Nambala of Namibia took bronze in 10.98

Ingram’s vision is primarily affected by light. Because races are well lit, Ingram is able to make out lanes when racing, and does not run with a guide.

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In Para athletics, athletes are classified according to the degree of limitation resulting from their impairment.

T/F51, T/F52, T/F53, T/F54, F55, F56, F57 refer to athletes who compete in a wheelchair. The lower the number, the higher the degree of activity limitation.

F40, F41 refer to athletes of short stature who compete while standing. T/F42, T/F43, T/F44 refer to athletes with a lower limb loss or limitation who compete while standing. T/F45, T/F46 and T/F47 refer to athletes with an upper limb loss or limitation who compete while standing.

RELATED: Multiple world records fall at Para World Championships in Dubai

F31, T/F32, T/F33 and T/F34 refer to athletes with athetosis, ataxia and/or hypertonia who compete in a wheelchair. T/F35, T/F36, T/F37 and T/F38 refer to athletes with athetosis, ataxia and/or hypertonia who compete in a standing position.

T/F11, T/F refers to athletes who are blind. T/F12 refers to athletes with very limited vision, and T/F13 refers to athletes with limited vision.

For more information on athlete classification, click here.

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You can catch all the action in Dubai, which continues until Friday, at the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca, the CBC sports app for IOS or Android, or the Canadian Paralympic Team Facebook page. For full results, click here.