Gold Medal Alert - Anna Grimaldi Women's Long Jump T47

Paralympian Anna Grimaldi just won the Women’s Long Jump T47, putting in a mammoth final jump of 5.62m, 3cm ahead of Yunidis Castillo (Cuba) and Carlee Beattie (Australia).
 
Grimaldi’s previous best jump was 5.41, putting today’s jump a massive 21cm ahead of her personal best. She went into this event ranked number 2 in the world. The last medal New Zealand won in Paralympic field events for females was a bronze in the Long Jump B3 from Leslie Mancktelow, 1988.
 
It’s been a long dry spell for New Zealand in Para-Athletics at a Paralympic Games, with the last medals won in 2004 - two golds and a bronze, Peter Martin at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. 
 
Anna Grimaldi - entering the world of Para-Athletics just over three years ago and in that time stormed onto the world stage at last year’s IPC Athletics World Championships winning a bronze in the Women’s Long Jump T47. Anna will debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games with a world ranking of three in the Women’s Long Jump T47. Grimaldi’s full biography can be found here.
 
Viewers can catch the Team in action throughout the Games on DUKE and together with ONE News coverage, a special highlights programme will air every night on TV ONE and will be available online through TVNZ OnDemand and AttitudeLive.com. Further details https://www.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz-paralympics-schedule
 
The New Zealand Paralympics Team is 31-strong will compete at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games with an expected global contingent of 4,350 athletes from 160 countries, gathering to compete in the world’s largest multi-sport event for disabled athletes. New Zealand will contest six Para-Sports, chasing a target of 18 medals in total, including 12 gold medals.