Clegg makes strong start

Libby Clegg, left, set a new world record in the T12 100 metres before it was broken twice minutes later
1 September 2012

Great Britain's Libby Clegg set a new world record in the first round of the T12 100 metres at the Olympic Stadium, only for it to be broken twice in barely 15 minutes.

The silver medallist from Beijing, who is registered blind and was running with guide runner Mikail Huggins, clocked 12.17 seconds to win her heat, taking 0.24secs off her previous best.

But the 22-year-old athlete's time was bettered by Zhu Daqing in the very next heat, the Chinese athlete running 12.13s.

And it was lowered again by her compatriot Zhou Gouhua, who produced the first ever sub-12 second clocking by crossing the line in 11.91.

It meant the world record was incredibly broken in four consecutive heats, Ukraine's Oxana Boturchuk having started the ball rolling with a 12.24 run.

Clegg, who has a deteriorating eye condition known as Stargardt's disease, leaving her with only slight peripheral vision in her left eye, thrived in the atmosphere generated by the near-capacity crowd.

She said: "It was absolutely phenomenal. It's amazing having all that home support. I did not expect such a performance."

Huggins added: "We knew it was going to be a packed stadium, but we had to embrace the crowd.

Clegg runs in the semi-finals on Saturday night.

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