BEN SANDILANDS was beaming with pride as his he set a new world record to claim Paralympic gold in the men’s T20 1500m in Paris.

The 21-year-old crossed the line in three minutes and 45.40 seconds, shaving 0.1 seconds off of the previous record.

Ben, a member of Fife AC, picked up this gold during his Paralympic debut, which was also Britain’s fifth Para-athletics gold.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Sandilands. “I’ve put in so much hard work.

“I knew I had the speed in me at the end from my training.

“The timing has to be perfect and I went for it, and the world record means a lot. It’s incredible.”

Ben takes the title from fellow Fife AC teammate Owen Miller, who earned gold in Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Owen narrowly missed out on defending his title due to injury, leaving Ben to represent the Dunfermline-based club out in the French capital.

Fife AC is a group based at Pitreavie Athletics Centre, coached by Steve Doig.

Steve previously told the Press he was backing Ben, hailing him for his efforts and achievements.

“It’s a great achievement to be picked,” Steve said. “It’s a great experience.

“It’s just a case of how you perform on the day. Certainly he has the capacity to be involved in a race for the front, for a medal position, because he was world champion.”

Originally from Kirkcaldy, Ben has been based at Fife AC for a number of years now, working to improve his performances.

Craig Burn, director of sport at sportscotland, said: “Huge congratulations to Ben Sandilands who is the Paralympic champion in the Men’s 1500m T20, bringing home another gold medal for GB.

“After the success that Ben has had over the last year, it is fantastic to see him rewarded with this gold.

“This was a stacked race and competing at this level comes after years of hard work in training and the work that Ben, his coaches and training group who have done to get to this point is fantastic.”