Katie Pegg picks up her 1st Para athletics world medal, setting personal best in shot put

Katie Pegg of Markham, Ont., delivered a personal best performance in women's shot put Thursday for her first medal at her second Para athletics world championships.

Pegg threw 12.76 metres on her sixth and final attempt for bronze, eight centimetres farther than her previous try at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The 21-year-old threw 11.48 to open the F46 final before settling in against 10 competitors.

"I just went out there, threw a heavy ball really far and I had fun. I didn't put too much pressure on myself," Pegg told Athletics Canada. "We've been working so hard to get to this very day. Today, walking to that circle, I was ready to go out there and just do the best I could."

Pegg topped 12 metres for the first time in competition, doing so five times in Thursday's final. She surpassed her 11.75 PB from earlier this season and was 43 centimetres clear of fourth-place finisher Jihen Azaiez of Tunisia.

"In our training camp, I had thrown 12.50 metres," said Pegg, adding it was kind of a shock to her. "Walking into [Thursday's final] I didn't know what was going to happen.

"I did enough inside and even outside, in terms of gym and work with my coach [Jodi Langley and] it paid off."

Pegg's medal is Canada's third of these championships in India, all bronze. Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., reached the podium in men's 400 T34 on Monday, and Toronto sprinter Marissa Papaconstantinou took bronze in women's 100 T64.

Karomat Omonova of Uzbekistan entered the final with a PB of 12.13 and won gold with a throw of 13.07 for an Asian record. Holly Robinson of New Zealand collected silver at her third consecutive world championships, throwing the shot 12.86 for an Oceanic record.

The F46 classification is for athletes