Paralympics: Simran through to women's 200m T12 final

India's Simran Sharma, the reigning World champion, breezed her way into the final of the women's 200m T12 race with a time of 25.03 seconds at the Paralympic Games in Paris on Friday.

She earlier topped her heat and entered the semi-finals with a timing of 25.41s.

The Indian sprinter was in the same heat as Germany's Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt, who pipped her to bronze on Thursday night in the 100 metres final.

The Indian, who won the World title this year in Kobe, was born prematurely with visual impairment and faced numerous challenges throughout her life, including her father's chronic illness and eventual passing.

Those difficult days instilled in her fighting spirit and a desire to overcome obstacles.

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 where it was discovered that she is visually impaired.

Her breakthrough came at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship where she competed despite fear of losing her father.

Although she lost her father shortly after returning from the event, she channeled her grief into motivation, determined to honour his memory through her achievements.