Aled Davies completed the first part of his triple double bid when striking gold in the discus in the F63 event on day four at the World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin.
Davies broke the championship record with five of his six throws to finish with a mark of 50.55m and will now aim for another gold in the shot put.
“It’s been a tough year,” admitted Davies after leaving the sun-kissed field. “We saw this year as one to kind of experiment, kind of minimise my disability to throw further, but a lot of those haven’t worked, unfortunately, so I haven’t had a consistent technical block.
“For me, 50m, considering the circumstances, I have to be happy. I am not sure how I won, I wasn’t the best man, they missed an opportunity there because it is the closest they will ever get to me.
“I haven’t competed that much. I decided that if I sat at home and kind of give up a title without a fight, I would probably regret it. I came here, I threw everything I had. 50m is unfortunately where I am at, but it was good enough for me.
“I can’t believe I won to be honest, but I will take the win with both hands. Every time you put on the British vest it is an absolute honour and I always go out there to do my country proud.”
Davies broke the previous Championship record on five of his six throws, the other one a foul. He opened with a mark of 47.93m and led from then on, with efforts of 49.61m in round three and 49.73m in round five consolidating his lead.
With victory confirmed after the silver medallist Tom Habscheid’s (LUX) last throw did not exceed Davies’s best, the Welshman unleashed the throw of his series with the 50.55m mark.
Davies’ main focus will now be on Tokyo 2020 and adding to his medal tally in the Paralympics.
He added: “Tokyo is the event for me. Now we have experimented, we have tried all the avenues, we know what works, we know what we got to play with.
“I am strong enough now to throw a long, long way, it’s getting that technical work in and making sure I am the best technically I can be. We will aim towards that 20-metre barrier in the shot and I want to get as close if not over the 60-metre barrier in the discus.
British Athletics Medallists: (22)
Gold:
Kare Adenegan – T34 100m
Hollie Arnold – F46 Javelin
Aled Davies – F63 Discus
Sabrina Fortune – F20 Shot put
Harri Jenkins – T33 100m
Maria Lyle – T35 100m
Vanessa Wallace – F34 Shot put
Richard Whitehead – T61 200m
Silver:
Hannah Cockroft – T34 100m
David Devine – T13 1500m
Stephen Miller – F32 Club Throw
Luke Nuttall – T46 1500m
Ross Paterson – T38 400m
Zak Skinner – T13 Long Jump
Ali Smith – T38 400m
Bronze:
Mo Jomni – T53 200m & 400m
Dillon Labrooy – T54 400m
Nathan Maguire – T54 200m
Stephen Osborne – T51 100m
Laura Sugar – T44/64 100m & 200m