Jason Smyth scorched to his eighth World Para-Athletics Championships gold medal, winning the 100m in the T13 class in Dubai in a championship record time of 10.54 seconds.
The Derry man, who is visually impaired, took the for the fifth time, and the fourth in succession since missing the 2011 competition due to injury.
The 32-year-old was just .08 off his own world record time, set in London in 2012.
Australian Chad Perris exploded out of the blocks and contested the lead with Smyth over the opening 40m before the Irishman pulled clear.
Perris was second in a season’s best time of 10.86, with Namibia’s Johannes Nambala third in 10.98.
“I can’t remember too much of what happens when the gun goes,” Smyth told RTÉ Sport.
“All of a sudden, you’re crossing the line. It’s a major event and the reality is it’s all about who crosses the line first.
“These are the moments that we are all looking for and want to be a part of, so you have to enjoy them.
“It’s a championship record. Looking forward, I’m really in a good place to kick on moving into the Paralympic Games in nine months’ time.”
In the T47 (amputee) high jump, Jordan Lee, ranked second in the category, finished sixth overall.
The 19-year-old from Kerry managed to clear 1.87m but bowed out at 1.91m, four centimetres below his personal best mark.
Roderick Townsend-Roberts of the USA won with a clearance of 2.03m, while China’s Hongjie Chen took silver and India’s Nishad Kumar bagged bronze after both recorded jumps of two metres.
Greta Streimikyte is the only Irish athlete in action on Thursday, with the European champion lining up in the final of the women’s T13 1500m final at 7.05am.
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