Teenager Alexa Halko broke her own women’s 800m T34 world record by just under a second on the opening day of the 2016 United States Paralympic Team Trials for track and field ©US Paralympics/Facebook/Joe Kusumoto

Teenager Alexa Halko broke her own women’s 800 metres T34 world record by just under a second on the opening day of the 2016 United States Paralympic Team Trials for track and field at the Irwin Belk Complex in Charlotte.

The 19-year-old set a time of 2 min 01.83sec to claim third place in the combined T34/53 field.  

Chelsea McClammer captured the win by two-tenths of a second over Shirley Reilly, finishing in 1:54.46.

"It feels great right now, but I’m still pretty shocked," said Halko.

"It just has to sink in a little bit.

"Hopefully I’ll have the same success in the next two days. 

"I’ve been dreaming about making the Paralympic team since I was around seven so it would be amazing if it actually happened at the end of this."

Brian Siemann edged Josh George by just over a tenth of a second to take gold in the men's 800m T52/53 with a time of 1:40.00, while Spencer Kimbro finished third in 1:50.68. 

George, who has already qualified for the US Paralympic team in the marathon, got the better of Siemann in the 5,000m T53/54, clocking 10:45.49 for the win.

Tatyana McFadden won both of her events on the first day of action, winning the women’s 800m T54 in 1:48.58 and 5,000m 53/54 in 11:38.93. 

The 11-time Paralympic medallist will compete in three other events at the trials, including tomorrow’s 100m T54 race.

One of Tatyana McFadden's two wins today came in the women's 800m T54 ©US Paralympics/Facebook/Joe Kusumoto
One of Tatyana McFadden's two wins today came in the women's 800m T54 ©US Paralympics/Facebook/Joe Kusumoto

An hour after finding out she had been named on the 2016 US Paralympic triathlon team, Alyssa Seely cruised to a victory in the women’s 200m T35/36, finishing nearly three seconds quicker than her closest competitor with a time of 32.54. 

Suzanne Arenal and Aubrey Headon placed second and third respectively.

"It was a great day in Charlotte," Seely said. 

"It was really exciting [to know I had been named to the team] and gave me that extra push; but also knowing I already punched my ticket to Rio in Para-triathlon, it took some of the stress off today which I really think helped me perform my best."

Three-time Paralympian April Holmes showcased her experience in the women’s 200m T43/44, winning the race in 28.29 ahead of runner-up Femita Ayanbeku and third-placed Grace Norman.

Competition is due to continue until Saturday (July 2) as more than 200 athletes compete to make the US Paralympic track and field team for Rio 2016.