Will Stedman and Anna Grimaldi have boosted New Zealand's medal haul at the para world athletics championships, reaching the podium for their respective track events at Paris.
Stedman, 23, has improved on his bronze medals at previous championships - including Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics - to finish second in the T36 400 metres.
The Kiwi finished behind Australian world and Paralympic champion James Turner, clocking 53.62s.
"I'm really happy with how I ran, especially the first half of the race, which I've had some trouble executing," he said. "It was the closest I've been to him with 100m to go, but I didn’t quite have the strength in the final straight.
"It is satisfying to win silver. I’m really happy to run my second-fastest time ever, and to be able to perform on the day at a major championship, when it counts."
Later in the day, Grimaldi continued her improvement on the track, snatching a surprise third in the T47 100 metres in 12.32s, one-hundredth of a second outside the national and Oceania records recorded in her heat.
Previously known more as a long jump specialist, she finished behind Ecuadorian Kiara Rodriguez (12.17s) and American defending champion Brittni Mason (12.24s), just outleaning Serb Saska Sokolov (12.35s) for bronze.
"With about 70m to go, my mouth opened and it was, 'Oh my God, I’m in third'," she said. "I wasn’t expecting to be in the hunt for a medal.
"I was ranked ninth coming into this and I thought maybe yesterday was a fluke. I’m not a 100m runner, I’m a long jumper, but I guess now I’m sort of a 100m runner."
Realising her medal, Grimaldi ran to the NZ contingent, where shot-put champion Lisa Adams lifted her into the stands for a celebratory hug.
Both Stedman and Grimaldi still have their field events to come. Stedman took Paralympics silver in the long jump at Tokyo, while Grimaldi won gold, but will face newly crowned 100m champion Rodriguez.
"Speed is a massive part of the long jump," she said. "It is my biggest asset and I could feel the last couple of weeks, when practising long jump, it was getting harder to take off, which usually means I’m running fast."
Meanwhile, Daniell Aitcheson was quickest in T36 100 metres heats, clocking 13.68s to break her own Oceania record. World and Paralympic champion Yiteng Shi of China was second-fastest in 14.46s.
New Zealand now have one gold, one silver and one bronze medal from the championships, with Tokyo Paralympics F46 javelin champion Holly Robinson the next Kiwi to perform.
