There were two British victories on day one of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai to kick start four days of action.

There was an excellent win for Vanessa Wallace (Alison O’Riordan) in the F34 shot put, in her first competitive appearance since her triumph at the WPA European Championships in Berlin last August.

Her third-round effort of 7.49m was her best ever season opener and it secured her the win in the United Arab Emirates. It was a very consistent series for the Enfield & Haringey athlete, who added three further throws between 7.36 and 7.37m to her scorecard.

Following her 60m personal best in Glasgow last week, Maria Lyle (Jamie Bowie) opened her outdoor campaign with a time of 30.18 (+0.9) over 200m. Racing in the mixed T35/36 race, Lyle started well and showed her strength in the closing stages to encouragingly set her fastest time over the distance since 2017.

In the mixed T37/38 200m, Eve Walsh-Dann (Roger Sexton) was third, posting a time of 30.70 (+0.9), which was a personal best for the young Northern Irish athlete. Shaving 0.04 seconds off her previous best secured her a podium position in the first GP of the season with Germany’s Linda Ave taking victory overall in 27.79.

In the T33 100m, Andrew Small (Rick Hoskins) was second in 17.23 (+0.2), pipping fellow Briton Dan Bramall (Pete Wyman) who crossed the line in 18.48. Paralympic champion Ahmad Almutairi (KUW) won the contest, not too far ahead of Small in 17.06.

Back out in the field, Taz Nicholls (Alison O’Riordan) was in javelin action, and he started the competition well; his 29.51m effort in round one ultimately his best. He followed that up with a mark of 29.23m in round two to consolidate his series. He was second in the mixed F42/44/63 event won by Syria’s Bassam Sawsak, an F42 athlete.

Full results can be found here.