The triple jumper Osamah Al-Shanqiti won the first gold medal in the Olympic history of Saudi Arabia with a world record-breaking jump of 15.37 meters at the Beijing Paralympics Monday. “I am really really happy because I made this on the last jump,” said the 32-year-old who was extremely excited about his performance after defeating Ukraine jumper Ivan Kytsenko, who was in the lead after the first five jumps. “I do not have any special tactics and I just do it step by step with patience. The fifth jump is the key jump in my whole competition, and the last one is the explosion of my force.” Kytsenko took the silver and Vladimir Yayets of Azerbaijan bronze. Osamah kept his promise of winning a gold medal and breaking the world record during training Sunday. “I had a ‘special number', 16.30m, in my training, that's why I am so confident today, though I didn't jump very well in the first few rounds.” “Osamah is a strong and serious man. He loves triple jump,” said his coach Faiz Al-Shehri. “He trained very hard. To prepare for the Paralympics, he trained in Tunisia and Malaysia to adapt himself to the different conditions. I hope he can also get a good result in the long jump,” the coach said. “My whole country will celebrate together with me. The gold is for the whole country, not for myself alone. Today's win definitely gives me much confidence for my next event - long jump,” said Osamah. Osamah was a triple jump and long jump athlete when he sustained an injury to his eye in an accident in 2000. He began his Paralympics career in 2006. Meanwhile, Oscar Pistorius began his bid to win three gold medals in the Beijing, clocking the fastest time in heats of the 100 meters. The South African, who failed in an attempt to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, ran a personal-best time of 11.16 seconds in the sprint. The next best times went to three Americans: Jerome Singleton (11.48), Brian Frasure (11.49) and Marlon Shirley (11.77). Pistorius will also run the 200m and 400m, hoping to better his performance four years ago in the Athens Paralympics where he won a gold and bronze. The double amputee won a legal battle in May for the right to run in the Olympics. However, subsequently he failed to meet the qualifying time standard. Forty-one medals were awarded on Monday, the second day of the Paralympics. China leads with 28 medals overall - eight gold. The United States also has eight gold medals and 17 overall. South African swimmer Natalie Du Toit won her second gold in two days, winning the 100m freestyle after taking the 100m butterfly on Sunday. She's attempting to win five gold medals in Beijing. The United States took three of the 18 golds in swimming to lead that tally. The medals went to Jessica Long, Erin Popovich and Anna Eames. The 10 gold medals on Monday in track and field were scattered around with China taking two to top that tally. Cuba, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Latvia, Algeria, Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands each took a gold medal. Medals awarded in other events included track cycling (5), equestrian (2), judo (4) and shooting (2). One of the longest winning streaks in sports stayed in place as The Netherlands' Esther Vergeer defeated Daniela Di Toro 6-2, 6-0 to extend her string to 345 consecutive victories in a first-round match in wheelchair tennis. The 27-year-old Vergeer has won four gold medals in the last two Paralympic Games - in singles and doubles - and will look to repeat again in Beijing. Di Toro is a former top-ranked player and the last to defeat Vergeer. That was 5½ years ago.
