Paris 2024: Streimikyte breaks European record with fourth-place finish in 1500m final

Greta Streimikyte broke her own European record as she finished fourth in the women's T13 1500m Paralympic final at Stade de France.

The vision impaired athlete, who has had fourth (2016) and fifth-placed (2020) finishes in the event in her two previous finals, ran 4:32.28 - a European record - to again finish just outside the podium positions.

With no heat in the event, the 29-year-old was in her first run out in the French capital and made a strong start to keep tabs on defending champion Tigist Gezahagn Mengistu of Ethiopia.

The chasing pack injected the pace and Lithuanian-born runner found herself on the tail of the group at the halfway point in sixth position.

It became evident at that point that the race for medals was between Mangitsu, Liza Corso of the United States, a silver medallist in Tokyo, and Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi.

Streimikyte continued to work hard, picking up a place in each of the final two laps to cross the line in 4:32.28.

Menigtsu retained her title in a winning time of 4:22.39, with El Idrissi taking silver and Corso claiming bronze.

Reflecting on a typically busy race, Streimikyte admitted she could have executed her race strategy differently.

"My plan was, similar to the Worlds in Paris last year, to take on the first lap to make sure it is not going to be too slow because that wouldn’t be beneficial for me," she told RTÉ Sport.

"Then all the people kept coming in and I just had to remain focussed and just make sure I just had that bit for the last lap because you don’t know what can happen.

"That’s why it’s hard for me to tell how well I executed the race, because it changed from my plan. I have to reflect."

It’s another near miss in the hunt for a Paralympic medal, but in a season where she