PARIS: Indian track and field athlete Simran Sharma topped her heat and progressed to the semi-finals of the women's 200m T12 event at the Paris Paralympics on Friday.
Simran, who is the reigning world champion, led her heat with a timing of 25.41 seconds to secure her place in the semi-finals.
According to the rules, the winner of each heat qualifies for Final A. The three fastest runners in each semi-final will also advance to Final A.
The T12 classification in the Paralympics is for athletes with visual impairments.
Simran was born prematurely and spent the next 10 weeks in an incubator, during which it was discovered that she is visually impaired.
Coached by her husband Gajendra Singh, who works for the Army Service Corps, she trains at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
On Thursday, Simran narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the women's 100m T12 final. She clocked 12.31 seconds in the four-player final after being hampered by a slow start.