SPRINTER Maria Lyle will look to defend her 200m title at the World Para Athletics Championships this evening (Tuesday).

The reigning champion came through her heat last night, finishing less than a second behind world record holder Xia Zhou.

The two were drawn in the same heat, which also saw Iraq’s Fatimah Suwaed and Poland’s Ingrid Renecka progress to the final.

Lyle, of Dunbar, was second quickest over the two heats, with her time of 31.22 seconds just a hundredth of a second faster than China’s Qianqian Guo.

The T35 athletes return to the track in Paris this evening for the final at 7.30pm.

 

 

The 23-year-old, who has spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, won both the T35 100m and 200m in Dubai in 2019.

Since then, she has undergone surgery on her foot and told Courier Sport before the event that she would have been “over the moon” with a medal.

READ MORE: Lyle would be ‘over the moon’ with Worlds medal

She said: “I’m hoping to get a medal but [I want to] just enjoy myself and hopefully put in a performance that I am proud of and see what results from that.

“I cannot really control what other people do and I would be over the moon with getting a medal.

“What will be will be and I am looking forward to enjoying getting back to competing again.”

The former Dunbar Grammar School pupil, who is also looking ahead to next year’s Paralympic Games in the French Capital, will also feature in the T35 100m on Monday.

The heats take place from 11.20am and the final gets under way at 8.45pm.