The 29-year-old Popow (pictured top), who was competing at an event in his hometown of Leverkusen over the weekend, shaved 0.03sec off the previous record of 12.14 which was jointly held by his challenger Reardon and Canadian Earle Connor.

Connor, the Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic champion, set the previous record mark in 2002, before Reardon equalled the time in April of this year at the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney.

A month earlier, Reardon became the fastest single above knee amputee in the 200m when he ran 25.45 at the Queensland Track Classic in Brisbane.


Connor, who held the 100m T42 record since 1996 before breaking it in 2002, tweeted his delight following Popow's new time.

"I had the record for 17 years and am so proud that someone I inspired and mentored has replaced my name in the record books," he said.

"It was a pleasure to share the record with Scott Reardon for a few months.

"What a final the T42 100m will be in Lyon."

Popow finished ahead of 23-year-old Reardon to claim gold at London 2012 and the two are set to renew rivalries once again at the upcoming International Parlaympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Lyon, which get underway this Friday (July 19).

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