TOKYO, Japan — A Fishers Paralympian is one race away from a medal in Tokyo.
Noah Malone won his heat in the 100 meters in the T12 class Thursday night in an American record time of 10.55 seconds. That automatically secured him a spot in Sunday's final.
Malone's time was the second-fastest overall, behind Norway's Salum Ageze Kashafali's 10.46 seconds in the first heat of the night. That time set a Paralympics record and was just .01 seconds off Kashafali's world record set in 2019.
Malone, 19, attended Hamilton Southeastern High School and the Indiana School for the Blind. He currently runs for Indiana State University.
He will also compete in the 400 meters in Tokyo, where his time of 49.38 seconds at the US Paralympic Trials was just .05 seconds off the world lead.
Athletes in the T12 class at the Paralympics "have a vision impairment which is severe enough to impact on sport," according to Paralympic.org. It the middle division of three classes for athletes with visual impairment and is for athletes that have a visual field of less than 10 degrees in diameter.
The 100-meter final will be run around 8 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 29. The heats in the 400 meters will start Aug. 31 at 8:17 a.m. EDT.