12 world records were broken on the first two days of the Tokyo Paralympics

What a blistering start to the Tokyo Paralympics! We have witnessed greatness at every level, with records being shattered all over, and it is just day 2 of the Games. We have listed the twelve athletes who have made new world records after their mind-blowing performances.

This year's Paralympics has truly brought back our childhood passion and love for sports. Without further ado, here is the list of the twelve athletes who broke world records and immortalized their names in the history books forever.

1) Paige Greco

Australian Paige Greco continued her dominance as she set a world record time of 3 minutes, 50.815 seconds and won the gold in the C3 3000m pursuit event.

Despite being a relative newcomer to the para track cycling, Greco, managed to prevail ahead of Chinese ace Wang Xiaomei and German Denise Schlinder, who came in second and third, respectively, making her success more remarkable.

"Yeah, I'm fairly new to it. 2019 was my first international competition, so it's been a pretty awesome few years. I'm loving every bit of it. I've been working really hard. Before cycling, I did athletics, and that built a really good foundation of strength and my ability of how to race and how to pace myself on race day," she said in an interview to Paralympic.org after her historic win.

2) Guo Lingling

Chinese ace Guo Lingling set a new world record of 109 kg during the women's 41 kg powerlifting event on her way to the gold medal. The 32-year-old Asian Para Games gold medalist, who started powerlifting in 2010, broke her previous world record of 107kg in her third attempt, following it up with a new mark of 109kg in the fourth.

Setting back to back world records in the same year that too at the grandest stage is no mean feat, and Guo Lingling deserves her roses while she is still in the game.

3) Mikhail Astashov

Mikhail Astashov shattered the world record in the men's C1 3,000m individual pursuit event by covering the distance in 2 minutes and 35.954 seconds. The Russian will now compete to stand on the podium, and he will eventually win at least a silver for his efforts.

His story is an inspirational one as he keeps proving people wrong and breaking records and stigmas in the process. In February 2020, he got a job at a food delivery service in Yekaterinburg to try a new experience, showing us time and again that nothing seems unaccomplishable to him.

4) Yelyzaveta Mereshko

Yelyzaveta Mereshko opened Ukraine's tally at the Paralympics after winning the gold and setting a new world record in the women's 200m individual medley S6 event.

The 29-year old won the event with a time of 2:56.90, finishing millimetres ahead after a tough duel with USA's Elizabeth marks.

5) Jaco Van Gass

35-year-old Afghanistan war veteran Jaco Van Gass finished ahead of Great Britain Paralympics teammate Fin Graham to win the gold in the men's C3 3000m individual pursuit final.

The Brit crossed the finish line a little over a second quicker than his compatriot, making it a one-two finish for GB. Van Gass came into the medal race in blazing hot form as he set a new world record in the qualifying session after clocking in at three minutes, 17.593 seconds. He shattered the previous record held by Russian Alexey Obydennov by nine seconds.

6) Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos

Tristan Bangma and pilot Patrick Bos secured the Netherlands' first medal at the Paralympics after securing the gold in the men's B 4000m individual pursuit. The duo had no trouble dethroning the defending champions, Great Britains Stephen Bate and pilot Adam Duggleby.

The duo also set the world record and created history by becoming the first to clock in under four minutes after finishing the event with a time of 3:59.470.

7) Dame Sarah Storey

Dame Sarah Storey continued to add to her storied legacy as she claimed her 15th gold, leaving her two events away from becoming the most successful British Paralympian of all time.

The Brit came into the Games with the intent of breaking her world record in the pursuit of finishing a fourth consecutive Games with a time under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. She achieved her target in the qualifying stage as she clocked in at 3 minutes and 27.057sec.

8) Emily Petricola

Paige Greco was not the Australian to have an opportunity to script history as her teammate Emily Petricola also a debutant, won her maiden Paralympic gold as she lapped American rival Shawn Morelli to win the C4 3,000m pursuit.

Just like her teammate, the reigning world champion broke her world record after qualifying with the fastest time, clocking in at 3:38.061.

9) Valeriia Shabalina

Russian Paralympic swimmer Valeriia Shabalina dominated in the women's S14 100m butterfly, on her way to the gold medal as she finished in front of the Australian duo of Ruby Storm and Paige Leonhardt.

The 26-year-old broke her own world record time after clocking in at an astonishing 1:03.59.

10) Roman Zhadnov

Russian Roman Zhadnov continued the RPC's dominance in the pool as he broke Italian Efrem Morelli's world record to claim the gold in the men's SB3 50m breaststroke after clocking in at a mouth-gaping 46.49.

11) Anastasia Pagonis

American Anastasia Pagonis dominated the heats for the women's S11 400 freestyle and set herself up for a podium finish in the finals after claiming the top seed for her efforts. Pagnois also broke the world record set in 2019 by the second seed Lisette Bruinsma, after clocking in at 4:58.40.

12) Gia Pergolini

Pagonis' teammate, Gia Pergolini, continued the streak as she made her presence felt in the women's S13 100 backstroke after winning the second heats and set a world record with a mark of 1:05.05, beating the previous mark set by Italian Carlotta Gilli in May.

If we were to go by the evidence showcased in the first two days, buckle up because we are truly in for a wild ride. More records are waiting to be shattered, and as sports fans, our dreams are finally coming to fruition due to the high skill levels of these para-athletes.