February 2 - Louise Ellery (pictured) has set a new world record in the F32 seated shot put event at the Australia Cup meet in Canberra, becoming the first athlete in her category to break the elusive six metre-mark.


The Australian, a former model, launched the shot 6.09 metres on her sixth and final attempt to obliterate the previous world mark of 5.79m.

Opening her campaign with a heave of 5.75m, Ellery recorded distances of 5.97m, 5.87m, 5.91m and 5.50m before achieving the world record shot to round out her performance.

Ellery’s performance is likely to have gained her an A-qualifying mark for the 2011 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships next year in Christchurch.

Qualification standards are yet to be officially announced.

Ellery was involved in terrible car crash in 1998 that left her in a coma for five months and doctors feared that she would die.

The incident left her with an acquired brain injury but she began competing three years after the accident, in 2001, and three years after was representing Australia in the Athens Paralympics.

Ellery was ranked number one in the world in 2005 but failed to win a medal in Beijing after suffering with migraines throughout the Paralympics.