Anna Grimaldi. PHOTO: ODT FILES Dunedin Paralympian Anna Grimaldi wants to reverse her fortunes in London tonight. The Paralympic champion will line up for the women’s ambulant 100m at the Diamond League meet — the only Kiwi competing this weekend — at London Stadium. The venue does not bring the fondest of memories for Grimaldi, who, after being hampered by injuries, finished 1cm short in fourth at the World Para Athletics Championships at the same venue in 2017. ‘‘If I’m honest the 2017 worlds was one of the most traumatic meetings of my career,’’ Grimaldi said. ‘‘I had high expectations after what happened in Rio, but what I didn’t know at that time was I had a stress fracture on my foot. ‘‘My world fell apart there, but the tools I have since learned have enabled me to handle the ups and downs of every campaign. ‘‘It was obviously not the stadium’s fault — but I hope to create some happy memories there this weekend.’’ Grimaldi won bronze in the mixed classification 100m in 12.41sec at her Diamond League debut in Eugene, Oregon, last year. Para events are still rare on the circuit, so Grimaldi is delighted to get another opportunity. ‘‘We are crying out for opportunities to share our stories and show how awesome para sport can be and this is a great chance to show other people what we can do no matter our disability.’’ She will line up in a strong multi-classification field, including Irish world T13 champion Orla Comerford and Dutch T64 Paralympic champion Fleur Jong. She finished third with 12.76sec at the Morton Games in Dublin earlier this month, but felt there was more in the tank. Grimaldi will compete at her first Commonwealth Games in the T45-47 100m later this month. Grimaldi races at 11.58pm (NZ time) today. • Shot putter Tom Walsh topped the podium with 21.71m at a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting in Madrid yesterday. Nick Palmer finished sixth with 19.93m. Sprinter Zoe Hobbs kept her season rolling in the women’s 100m, with a winning time of 11.06sec. Triple jumper Ethan Olivier placed fifth with 16.54m, notching a season’s best along the way, and hammer thrower Lauren Bruce unleashed her furthest hammer throw since 2022 — 72.44m — to finish fourth.
