Imperious McKillop gallops to Double Double

It was 35 degrees at the Rhone Stadium in Lyons this afternoon but the sweltering heat couldn't stop Michael McKillop breaking the championship record in the T38 1500m final at the IPC World Athletics Championships.

This was an imperious performance by McKillop and meant that having been crowned T37 800m champion on Sunday, he was emulating the classic double he achieved at both the London Paralympics last year and the Christchurch World Championships in 2011.

With room-mate, Jason Smyth also victorious three days ago in the T13 200m, Ireland have now won three golds, with prospects of garnering further medals before the end of the week.

McKillop gave the type of commanding display his supporters have become accustomed to, tracking 17-year-old Australian, Deon Kenzie through the opening 700m. With two laps remaining, the prodigious Newtonabbey native made a significant burst to open up a 10m gap on Tunisian Abbes Saidi.

That was the pivotal move and McKillop streaked clear in the final lap to take more than four seconds off his own championship record, finishing in 4.10.17 to bag his seventh major championship gold medal. Saidi held on for second, with Kenzie third.

Head of Irish Paralympic Athletics, James Nolan admitted that he was running out of superlatives to describe McKillop's dominance. "Michael's third lap was decisive. None of his competitors could live with the injection of pace. Michael was untroubled and dominant."

Catherine O'Neill finished sixth in the F31/32/51 Club Throw final. A silver medallist in Christchurch, the New Ross woman - who is also a two-time Discus world champion - was unable to build on a solid start.

This was a hugely competitive event however, with numerous renowned high class performers, as evidenced by the two world records, American record, three PBs and two SBs produced by a field of 15.

With a variety of classifications competing, the competition is decided by points awarded rather than the distance of the throws. Each athlete throws the club on three consecutive occasions initially, and O'Neill improved each time to record a high of 896 points for a 13.34m effort. That placed her in sixth, 55 points off a medal.

The top eight returned for a second series of three throws but the 37-year-old never got close to bettering her mark and challenging ultimate gold medallist, Maroua Ibrahmi of Tunisia. It was another creditable major championship performance from the experienced Wexford woman however, who finished fifth in the F51/52/53 discus final earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Smyth gave further evidence of his well-being when setting a new championship record en route to a comfortable T13 100m semi-final victory at the IPC World Athletics Championships in Lyon.

Smyth cannoned out of the blocks at the Rhone Stadium and accelerated smoothly away from the rest of the field to win in a time of 10.72, which was more than .3 of a second clear of Nambala Johannes of Namibia, who set a PB in second place.

The 26-year-old is already looking ahead after such a composed run. "I felt very comfortable out there, got out of the blocks well and then just relaxed. I'm looking forward to the final and to running quicker."