Ballykelly athlete Sally Brown in 100m final tonight

This follows the disappointment of missing out on the final of the 200m sprint, when she finished eighth in qualifying, although her father believes this may have been down to an infection.

Brown, who competes in the T46 category, clocked 13.67 seconds in her 100m heat yesterday, leaving her seventh fastest qualifying athlete for the final.

A single-arm amputee, Sally Brown ran in the same heat as the fastest qualifier, Cuba’s Yundis Castillo, who set a new world record of 11.95 to follow up her world-record breaking victory in the 200m event on Saturday.

Her father Richard told the Sentinel: “It is a massive relief for us because she didn’t perform in the 200m – she found out she had an infection and that she was a little bit de-hydrated. I think that is under control now and she has got through to the final.

“She was in a particularly hard heat and a particularly fast heat – so to come third in that is a fantastic achievement. She didn’t get off to the best start, she stood up straight away, but she managed to keep herself in it.

“If she can run anything like she did today she will be in the mix. It is going to be tough, but hopefully she can keep her nerve and run well. There are going to be thousands of people cheering for her.”