Blinded Nepali soldier battles his way to London start

LONDON: Nepal athlete Bikram Bahadur Rana on Monday set a new personal best at the Paralympics, capping an extraordinary journey to the British capital from the Himalayan nation where he was blinded by Maoist rebels.

Aided by a guide runner, the former warrant officer came fourth out of four in his T11 200m heat for blind and visually impaired athletes, clocking a time of 26.95sec, more than four seconds behind the quickest qualifier.