Four visually impaired runners beat Olympic gold time The top four visually impaired runner in the Paralympic 1,500m T14 race were all faster than the Olympic gold medalist […]

The top four visually impaired runner in the Paralympic 1,500m T14 race were all faster than the Olympic gold medalist at Rio, games officials have announced.

Algeria’s Abdellatif Baka won gold in an incredible men’s 1,500m final in the T13 class at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday evening, beating the time set by able-bodied US athlete Matthew Centrowitz Jr at last month’s Games by two seconds.

Not only did Baka beat the Olympic time, but the next three runners to cross the line in the race for visually impaired athletes all recorded times that would have been fast enough to guarantee them gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games last month.

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Baka set a Paralympic world record of three minutes and 48.29 seconds, holding off a late charge by Ethiopia’s Tamiru Demisse, who took silver in 3:48.49.

Kenyan Henry Kirwa won bronze in 3:49.59 ahead of Algeria’s Fouad Baka – Abdellatif ‘s brother – who crossed in 3.49.84.

Incredibly the winner’s time was only 16 seconds slower than the Olympic record, set by Kenya’s Noah Ngeny during the Sydney Games in 2000.

Baka said: “It wasn’t easy to get this gold medal. I’ve been working one or two years non-stop and it’s been very, very hard for me.”

Breaking Bad actor RJ Mitte, who has cerebral palsy and is reporting on the Games for Channel 4, said the result was another example of “a record breaking games”.

He told i: “These athletes are beating records, smashing world records as paralympians get faster and stronger. It’s incredible, they are moving in the direction needed to be able to compete at a much higher level than ever before.”

At the end of the race silver medalist Demisse courted controversy by become the latest Ethiopian actor to stage a political protest at Rio.

Demisse appeared to cross his arms above his head in reference to the political persecution of the Oromo ethnic group, echoing a similar gesture made by Feyisa Lilesa at the end of the marathon during the Olympics.