The penultimate morning session of the Athletics at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games will see nine men's gold medals decided.
Classifications 11, 12, 13
The Men's 200m - T12 will see a battle between four strong finalists - Hilton Langehoven of South Africa, Josiah Jamison of the United States, and Yang Yuqing and Li Yansong of China. In Sunday morning's heats, Jamison and Langehoven were the stand-out performers, and they qualified fastest (22.20 seconds) for Monday morning's semifinals. The semifinals saw Langehoven gain the advantage, qualifying fastest (22.06s), ahead of Jamison (22.19s). But the Chinese are sure to get plenty of local support.
In the Men's 4x100m - T11-T13, there will be plenty of emotions as these speedsters try to do their countries proud. China qualified fastest for the final, with a world record (42.80s) in Monday night's heats, and will be favorites heading into the final. France was second fastest in qualifying, in 44.54s, ahead of Venezuela, in 44.76s. Angola will be the fourth country vying for gold.
Classifications 40-46
The Men's Long Jump - F42/44 should be a close competition and the men from the United States (Jeremy Campbell, Jeff Skiba and Casey Tibbs) are all capable of finishing with a medal. But the locals will be right behind Wang Qiuhong of China, who is also has a good chance of finishing upon the dais.
The Men's Discus Throw - F42 will also be tightly contested, with Wang Lezheng of China and Matt Brown of the United States both recording some strong throws this season.
Classifications 51-58
On the field in the Men's Javelin Throw - F57/58, both Xu Chongyao of China and Chinedu Silver Ezeikpe of Nigeria will be looking to follow up some solid qualifying performances.
In Men's Shot Put - F53/54 the field is wide open and it will be the man who steps up on the day who will take home the gold.
On track, the gold medal will be decided in the Men's 800m - T52, where Sydney Games bronze medalist Santiago Sanz of Spain will be hoping to add to his medal haul before celebrating his 28th birthday on Thursday, September 18. Sanz qualified third fastest (1:58.98) for the final behind Takada Toshihiro of Japan in 1:58.91, and Ito Tomoya of Japan in a world record time of 1:52.31.
In the Men's 100m - T54, Athens gold medalist Leo Pekka Tahti of Finland will enter the race as favorite but will face tough opposition from the reigning bronze medalist, 28-year-old Kenny Van Weeghel of the Netherlands on his 28th birthday. Saichon Konjen of Thailand set a Paralympic record (14.15 seconds) in his Monday morning heat but Tahti did one better in the following heat, setting a world record (13.76s) to qualify fastest for the finals.
Classifications 32-38
One of the last races of the session will be the Men's 800m - T36. He Chengen of China will have the crowd support.
(BOCOG September 15, 2008)