Rio Paralympics 2016: Visually impaired Abdellatif Baka wins 1,500m in race where TOP FOUR would have won Olympic gold

OLYMPIC 1,500m champion Matthew Centrowitz’s time would only have been good enough for FIFTH PLACE in the Paralympic race at the same distance.

In one of the most incredible moments in Paralympic history, Algerian runner Abdellatif Baka led FOUR other runners who ran faster that Centrowitz.

AP:Associated Press

Abdellatif Baka won the T13 Paralympic 1,500m in a race in which FOUR runners were faster than the Olympic champion[/caption]

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Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz would have come FIFTH in the T13 race[/caption]

In fact, Baka’s time was a mammoth 1.71seconds better than the 3 minutes 50 seconds that Centrowitz needed to win Olympic gold three weeks ago.

The incredible T13 race, which is for athletes who are visually impaired, saw Baka hold off a late charge by Ethiopia’s Tamiru Demisse to finish in 3mins 48.29secs.

That was a new world record for Paralympic athletes.

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Baka set a new world record with a time of 3mins 48.29secs[/caption]

EPA

That was a whole 1.71secs faster than Matthew Centrowitz’s winning time[/caption]

Baka said: “It wasn’t easy to get this gold medal.

“I’ve been working one or two years non-stop and it’s been very, very hard for me.”

This year’s Olympic race was exceptionally slow, with favourite Asbel Kiprop caught in a crowd.

In fact, the time was so slow that it is 24 seconds behind the current world record and has not been quick enough to be a world record since 1930.

But that’s to take nothing away from Baka, who ran a brilliant race, although one must feel for his brother Fouad.

The other Baka ran a brilliant time of 3mins 49.5secs.

That time would also have been good enough for Olympic gold – but it didn’t even get him a Paralympic bronze.