By Gareth James
Funmi Oduwaiye has set her sights on a medal winning return to Paris after finishing fourth in the F64 Shot Put at the World Para Athletics Championships.
The Cardiff thrower, who had also finished sixth in the discus in her first major championships, is already relishing the prospect of next summer’s Paralympics in the French capital.
Oduwaiye, who has only been competing for about a year, is confident she will be even better when she return to Paris.
“It was a very tough one, some people came out of nowhere as well – but I guess that’s what to expect,” said Oduwaiye.
Throwers taking charge 💪@_Anna_Nicholson and @FunmiOduwaiye both secured brilliant fourth-place finishes in the F64 and F35 shot put this morning at #PARIS2023 ⤵️#WhereItStarts
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) July 15, 2023
“I’m a bit disappointed in myself, in the way I performed – I can’t lie. But I leave it all in God’s hands that the next Worlds are less than a year away, so I just need to get back to work really.
“For me it’s either a good day or a bad day – or I have a medium day and then just get a throw in the last minute.
“So, I guess today was a bad day, but you can’t dwell on it – you have to move on to the next. It was my first world championships and I came fourth – there was a lot of pressure.
“I’ve just been doing this for a year and look how far I’ve come. Another year on top of that [to the Paralympic Games] – let’s see where I can get to.
“It’s a bit disappointing but I congratulate the top three that did really well.”
Fun Time . . . Funmi Oduwaiye Sets Sights On World Para Athletics Championships In Paris
Oduwaiye produced the sprinting equivalent of firing out of the blocks, with a first attempt of 10.69m putting her firmly in the medal mix from the get-go.
Fouls followed in rounds two and three, before a valid 10.15m reaffirmed her standing within the top six and among those athletes pushing out to over ten metres.
Unable to produce legal throws with her final two attempts, Oduwaiye’s round one best left her short of the medals by just 14cm, but was, however, good enough for an outstanding fourth place finish.
British medallists (Welsh athletes in bold):
GOLD: [6] Gavin Drysdale [Men’s T72 100m], Jonathan Broom-Edwards [Men’s T64 high jump], Sabrina Fortune [Women’s F20 shot put], Hollie Arnold [Women’s F46 javelin], Hannah Cockroft [Women’s T34 100m], Sammi Kinghorn [Women’s T53 100m]
SILVER: [4] Rafi Solaiman [Men’s T72 100m], Sammi Kinghorn [Women’s T53 800m], Kare Adenegan [Women’s T34 100m], Olivia Breen [Women’s T38 long jump]
BRONZE: [6] Zac Shaw [Men’s T12 100m], Danny Sidbury [Men’s T54 5000m], Maria Lyle [Women’s T35 200m], Sophie Hahn [Women’s T38 100m, Women’s T38 200m], Fabienne André [Women’s T34 100m