Paralympic Games Day 3: Stephen Clegg sets world record 100m backstroke S12

Great Britain Stephen Clegg set a world record of 59.02 en route to gold in the men’s S12 100m backstroke on the third day of the Paralympic Games in Paris.

The 28-year-old led throughout and extended his lead in the second 50 metres to claim his first Paralympic title in the evening’s first event at La Defense Arena.

Men S12 100m backstroke

Clegg, who won bronze at the Tokyo Paralympic Games three years ago, made his intentions known when he won the preliminary rounds in a time of 1:00.00, 0.65 seconds slower than the world record of 59.35 set by Alexander Nevolin-Svetov since London 2012.

He emerged as the leader, clocking a time of 28.48, ahead of the reigning champion. Raman Salei of Azerbaijan and had a body length lead of 75 meters. Despite tiring towards the end, the Briton finished with 0.33 within the WR.

Salei came second in 1:00.67 with Yaroslav Denysenko from Ukraine took bronze in 1:01.52.