Gitte Haenen of Belgium broke the 400 metres T42 mark on her way to the gold medal as she clocked a time of 1min 28.76sec at the Sport Arena.

The Belgian athlete ended the race in front of South Africa's Anrune Liebenberg.

The result capped a stylish debut in the event as Haenen had never raced over the 400m distance before.

"It feels fantastic but it was more a good feeling that I did a good run, because it was my first 400m ever and my coach was also glad that I did what she asked me to do," said Haenen.

"I didn’t know the record, and I didn’t have a clue about how I would run myself. 

"I just wanted to do my best, that was the important thing.”

Britain's Ben Rowlings was also in world record-breaking form, smashing the men's 5,000m T34 time set by Austin Pruitt in 2014 of the United States by nearly 20sec.

Rowlings came home in 12:02.00, with compatriot Isaac Towers finishing a close second.

The third record-breaking performance came from South Africa’s Louzanne Coetzee, who lowered her own women's 5,000m T11 time by more than a minute.

Coetzee powered around the track in 18:14.27 to complete a superb event in Nottwil for the South African.

"I’ll be leaving Switzerland with two personal bests so I’m happy - it really does give me a lot of confidence," she said. 

"I don’t want to make too many predictions but I would love to come back from London with a medal or two."

Double Paralympic champion Marcel Hug was unable to use home advantage to set a world record in the men's 5,000m T54 as he fell short of the mark, crossing the line in 9:58.48.

The 31-year-old's time was more than enough for Grand Prix gold as he came home ahead of Japanese duo Masayuki Higuchi and Kozo Kubo.

Lihong Zou of China, who is also a double Paralympic champion, picked up two race victories.

The Chinese athlete won the women's 5,000m T54 in 11:42.58 after she pulled clear of Swiss favourite Manuela Schär in the final bend, while the bronze medal went to Japan's Kazumi Nakayama.

Zou then added another title to her collection as she triumphed in the women's 400m T54 thanks to a time of 55.92.

Schär and Nakayama again took silver and bronze respectively.

Out in the field, British Paralympic silver medallist Stef Reid sealed victory in the long jump T35-47 category after leaping 5.54 metres in her first attempt.

Nicole Nicoleitzik of Germany did enough for bronze, while Brazilian Paralympic star Terezinha Guilhermina earned bronze.