Algeria's Skander Athmani and Said Najafzade of Azerbaijan dethroned defending champions at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium to place their names among the medal favourites with 100 days to go to the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Athmani, the defending 400m T13 Paralympic champion, took victory in the 100m T13 thanks to a championship record 10.44 seconds. Shuta Kawakami set a new Asian record on home soil to take silver with Norway's Salum Ageze Kashafali, the world record holder, defending world champion and Paralympic gold medallist, having to settle for bronze.

“Winning the 100m is special, is different than other events. I do the 400m but the 100m is different. I feel that I am so fast, that is the best feeling,” the Algerian sprinter said. “I’m always working for the best thing, for more records, so this is a good start with a good result [before the Paris 2024 Games].

There was a shock in the men’s long jump T12 final as Uzbekistan's reigning world champion and world record holder Doniyor Saliev fouled on his first three attempts to miss out on the final round. That allowed Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Najafzade to claim gold with a personal best 7.30m.

Gloria Zarza Guadarrama won Mexico's first gold medal at Kobe 2024 in the women's shot put F54. She threw 8.04m on her third attempt with Brazil's defending champion Elizabeth Rodrigues Gomes second. Chlie's reigning Paralympic champion Francisca Mardones was fourth as Uzbekistan’s Nurkhon Kurbanova took bronze.

China maintained their lead in the medal table, in part thanks to a men's 400m T54 podium sweep. Hu Yang won with a championship record 44.98 from Dai Yunqiang and Yhang Ying.

Shi Yiting set a new world record of 13.35, six-hundredths inside the previous mark, to retain her women's 100m T36 title. The 26-year-old now has six world titles to go with her three Paralympic golds. New Zealand's Danielle Aitchison was second with Veronica Hipolito of Brazil third.

"I didn't expect to break the world record as I have been suffering injuries recently, but I was motivated by my strong opponent on the tracks," Shi said afterwards. “Coach, team members, staff, and all the supporters, thank you very much. Kobe is very beautiful."

Zou Lijuan also won gold for China in the women's shot put F34 final with a championship record 9.11m, just eight centimetres shy of her world record.

India's Deepthi Jeevanji set the other world record on the day. She won the women's 400m T20 in 55.07, five-hundredths inside the previous best. Türkiye's Aysel Onder was a close second in a new European record of 55.19 

Brazil enjoyed another strong day in Kobe with four golds starting with Claudiney Batista dos Santos in the men’s discus F56. Julio Cesar Agripino dos Santos regained his men’s 1500m T11 title having won it back in 2019 in Dubai. The 33-year-old, who took 5000m silver behind team-mate Yeltsin Jacques on day one, pulled clear to win in a championship record 4:02.23 as Jacques fell on the track and was disqualified.

Speaking while standing next to Jacques afterwards, Agripino said, "He [Jacques] is not a rival, he makes me improve everyday to become a better runner. I am sure we will both achieve great things in Paris this year. It was a very emotional race. I almost fell down, as athletes were very close to each other showing that this is very tight event with a high level."

After taking shot silver in the morning, Elizabeth Rodrigues Gomes reasserted her dominance in the discus F53. The world record holder eclipsed her championship record from last year with 17.22m.

Rayane Soares da Silva, a two-time championship medallist, made her way to the top of the podium in the women’s 200m T13. She ran 24.89, more than half a second inside her previous personal best to take gold.  

Germany’s Nico Kappel claimed his first world title in seven years in the men’s shot put F41 setting a new championship record of 14.23m with his fourth throw. Uzbekistan’s Paralympic champion Bobirjon Omonov had to settle for silver while China’s Jun Huang took bronze. 

Defending Paralympic and world champion Fleur Jong leapt 6.53m, a new championship record, to win the women's long jump T64. She was almost a metre clear of Dutch team-mate Marlene van Gansewinkel with Japan's Maya Nakanishi in third.

Colombia had a one-two in the men’s javelin F38 as Paralympic and world champion Jose Gregorio Lemos Rivas broke the five-year-old championship record with 56.75m. Luis Fernando Lucumi Villegas was some four metres back but took silver.

Neutral athlete Andrei Vdovin won gold in the men’s 200m T37 with a season's best 23.09.

South Africa, Costa Rica and Iran joined Mexico in winning their first golds of Kobe 2024. Iran’s Amirhossein Alipour Darbeid was almost a metre clear of his rivals in the men’s shot put F11 with his 14.61m breaking a championship record which had stood for over two decades. Neutral athlete Igor Baskakov took silver ahead of Iran's Mahdi Olad.

Mpumelelo Mhlongo retained his world title in the men’s 100m T44. South Africa's world record holder ran a season's best 11.34 to finish more than four-tenths ahead of the rest.

Sherman Isidro Guity Guity ended the day on a high note for Costa Rica in the men’s 100m T64. He won in 10.88, the only man under 11 seconds, with American pair Hunter Woodhall and Derek Loccident - who collected high jump silver on Saturday - rounding out the podium.

“I’m really happy with this result, this makes me want to come back to Japan more times," said Guity who won 200m gold and 100m silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. "Next is the Paralympic Games so now I will continue my preparations to go for another medal in Paris."

After day four in Kobe, China leads the medal table with 13 golds to Brazil's 12. China also leads the overall medal count with 33 total medals with Brazil next on 20.