Prawat Wahoram won the men's 5,000-metre wheelchair race and Thailand's first gold medal at the Beijing Paralympic Games yesterday.
Prawat crossed the line in the Bird's Nest stadium in 10:22.38 seconds to beat silver medallist Kurt Fearnley of Australia, who clocked 10:22.97.
The win avenged the Thai's defeat by the Australian at the 2004 Games in Athens. Britain's David Weir took the bronze in 10:23.03.
''I am very happy to win Thailand's first gold medal of the Games. I have to thank my wife and son, who have given me moral support,'' Prawat said.
Prawat will get a two million baht bonus from the government for winning a Paralympic gold medal. He will receive another one million baht after winning the silver medal in the 4x100m wheelchair relay earlier this week. A bronze medallist gets 500,000 baht.
Prawat has four events left in Beijing _ the marathon, 800m, 1,500m and 4x400m. He has set his sights on taking home another gold in the 4x400m relay where Thailand are the defending champions and record holders.
In powerlifting, Thongsa Marasri just missed out on winning a bronze medal in the men's 56kg division.
Thongsa and South Korea's Keum-Jong Jung both lifted 180kg, but the Korean took bronze because his body weight was 0.01kg lighter than the Thai's.
The gold medal was won by Egyptian Sherif Othman, who set a world record of 202.5kg, while Iraq's Rasool Mohsin claimed the silver with 195kg.
''I am very disappointed. I had very little time to practise before the tournament. I hope I get more time for the next Games,'' Thongsa said.
Thailand has one gold, one silver and four bronze medals in the Paralympics.
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