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Daniel Romanchuk gave Team USA one of the most exhilarating moments of the Paralympic Games after a thrilling comeback win to claim gold in the men’s 400m final by 0.01 seconds.
The wheelchair racer made a less-than-impressive start but he recovered quickly to take the fight to Thailand‘s Athiwat Paeng-Nuea.
Paeng-Nuea looked to be the man to beat when his ride of 44.87 set a Paralympic record earlier in the day in the pre-lims.
Team USA’s Daniel Romanchuk claimed his first Paralympic medal by winning the 400m
It was a thrilling finale as he defeated Thailand ‘s Athiwat Paeng-Nuea (right) by 0.01 seconds
It needed a photo-finish for officials to determine that Romanchuk had won it on the line
But Romanchuk refused to give up and the American, who finished 13th in Rio five years ago, excelled over the final 25 metres to take gold with a time of 45.72.
He came flying around the turn before gaining momentum on his 18-year-old rival so much so that a photo-finish was required for officials to correctly determine the victor.
China’s Dai Yunqiang took bronze in a time of 46.20.
Romanchuk, 23, from Baltimore, Maryland, battles against spina bifida and his rise in levels from five years ago has caught the eye.
Romanchuk, 23, battles spina bifida and will challenge himself in six events while in Japan
He is incredibly busy in Tokyo as he competes in six events so he won’t be afforded much rest time to celebrate his 400m gold.
Romanchuk competed in every distance from the 100m to 5,000m in Brazil five years ago but was no better than 13th in those five events.
Now a more accomplished racer, his ability has been described by David Weir as ‘frightening’ – but the American does not want to get carried away with all the media attention.
‘I’m just trying to take it one race at a time,’ Romanchuk said about his six events in total.
‘I’ve got everything from the 100 to the marathon to go.’
The American will not have time to rest as he prepares to compete across six events in Tokyo
Source: dailymail
