THE JAMAICA contingent opened its account at the Paralympic World Athletics Championship when it snatched a silver and bronze medal in competition at the De Smelt Ice Stadium in Assen, The Netherlands, yesterday.

In the third day of competition, it was Sylvia Grant who got the nation on the board first when the F57 athlete placed third in the javelin, which was combined with the F58 class. Grant threw a distance of 17.23 metres to take the bronze behind Safia Djelal (F58) of Iran who threw a world record 30.99m for first place and the gold medal. Second was Jeny Velasco of Mexico with 25.0m.

In the men's discus event, Alphanso Cunningham not only had to settle for a silver medal but lost his world record to Oi Toshie of Japan. Toshie tossed the discus 25.67m to eclipse Cunningham's former best of 25.18 set in Athens, Greece, in September 2004.

Cunningham, whose stool was set incorrectly in the first round of throws, managed to hurl the discus 25.04 for a silver medal, well ahead of Egypt's Hassan Mohammed, who finished third with a throw of 22.49.