Wheelchair racer Andrew Small grabbed Paralympic gold for Great Britain after blitzing his rivals in the men’s T33 100m final.

Small powered to victory in a time of 17.73 seconds on day six of the Games after flying out of the blocks at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

The blistering start proved crucial as defending champion Ahmad Almutairi of Kuwait threatened to snatch victory by closing the sizeable gap, only to cross the line a tenth of a second behind.

Small’s success was an upgrade on the bronze he won behind Almutairi at Rio 2016, with third place on the podium on this occasion going to his GB team-mate Harri Jenkins in a season’s best 18.55secs.

“I entered the race, I don’t ever expect outcomes, I just go and do it and see what happens and hey ho this is where we got,” the 28-year-old told Channel 4.

“I normally have a Garfield brought to me where ‘I hate Mondays’, so I may have to change that now.”

Victory for Small brought ParalympicsG ’s 24th gold of the Games.

Another Briton, James Freeman, finished fourth of the five racers in 19.69secs.

David Weir and GB team-mate Danny Sidbury each qualified for the final of the men’s T54 1500m, despite finishing fourth and sixth respectively in their heat.

Six-time Paralympic gold medallist Weir, who initially retired from track events following from a fruitless trip to Rio in 2016, crossed the line in 2:55.84, with Sidbury posting a personal best of 2:56.26.

However, both times were quicker than any of their rivals in the other qualifying race, guaranteeing places in Tuesday’s medal decider.