Frame runner Finlay Menzies hopes his brilliant World Championship bronze can help catapult the profile of his discipline to greater heights.
The Edinburgh athlete, 19, showed no signs of nerves on international debut as a personal best of 16.29s propelled him onto the T72 100m podium in New Delhi.
Frame running is an adaptive form of running where athletes with coordination impairments – such as cerebral palsy – use a three-wheel frame to propel them along.
The event will make its debut at the LA 2028 Paralympics and Menzies, who was roared on by parents Gill and David at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, wants more people to know about it as he embarks on his burgeoning career.
“It’s absolutely amazing to get a medal,” he said.
“I’m so passionate about frame running – it’s so fun and the only way that I can run.
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“I can’t wait for LA – it’s so exciting.
“It would be amazing if more people could watch and know about it.
“I’d love for more people to see what people can do with whatever disability they’ve got, and that they’re more than what their disability is.”
Menzies beat Pole Wojciech Kukielka to bronze as defending champion Carlo Calcagni grabbed gold ahead of Brazilian Joao Matos Cunha.
The Scot had already set an initial personal best earlier in the day, scorching through his heat in the morning session with a time of 16.38s.
But he went even faster just several hours later, stopping the clock 0.09s quicker to cap an international debut to savour in what were sweltering sub-continental conditions.
Menzies also competed in the 400m event on Saturday night but after winning his heat, was disqualified for lane infringement.
And he reckons that early experience on the track at the stunning 60,000-seater stadium served him well heading into his favoured shorter distance.
Menzies added: “I was a little bit nervous – but they were manageable and helped me get the most out of the race.
“Coming down to the track to race the other night helped with that I think.
“I was pretty confident that I could make it happen – I just had to give it my best shot.
“It’s absolutely amazing my parents are here and I can celebrate this with them.”
Earlier in the day, Nathan Maguire admitted his rivals were simply too hot to handle after narrowly missing out on a T54 medal.
Maguire, who is married to nine-time Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft, finished fourth as Tunisian Yassine Gharbi grabbed gold in championship record time.
The 28-year-old, who now turns his attention to the 800m and 1500m, said: “That was the best I had today – it was really, really fast.
“I’m actually really happy with the race.
“It was such a quick race – he’s the world record holder so you never know what he’s going to pull out of the bag.
“He’s in my other two races as well so he’s going to be wanting to use that speed he had in the final 100m – and I want to do exactly the same.”
Elsewhere, fellow Brits Dan Gladman and Arthur Milles learned valuable lessons from their senior international debuts.
Blade runner Gladman, 32, finished seventh in his T64 100m final while Milles came home 11th in the T13 1500m for visually impaired runners.
Gladman, who only took up the sport 18 months ago and has enjoyed a rapid rise to the international stage, said: “I just felt a little bit flat to be honest – the whole warm-up and run just felt a little flat.
“I just didn’t really feel myself.
“But it was a good experience – so there’s more to come in the future.
“I think the heat was my final in a lot of ways – to be truthful, yesterday took a lot of mental tax out of me.
“Today I was trying to get myself up for it but sometimes the body just didn’t respond.
“It was still alright – it’s not the end of the world, it was a great experience and we’ll see what happens next.”
Milles, who is 19 and about to start a degree in Natural Sciences at Durham University, said: “I’ve learned a lot – it’s great to run alongside really great and quick people.
“It’s a bit demoralising at the beginning but it just motivates you to get faster, which is great.”
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