New Zealand’s Aitchison grabbed silver with 27.64 and compatriot Mali Lovell took bronze with a 29.82 finish. 

Shi’s triumph is her third consecutive victory in the event, following her successes in the discipline in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Aitchison also finished second in the Tokyo Games making this her second consecutive silver medal.

Aitchison hugged all her rivals after the race and seemed pleased for gold medallist Shi despite her “mixed emotions”.

"I’m super happy to get silver and that was a brilliant race, but I’m just a little bit disappointed at the same time knowing that I definitely had a chance to get the gold medal and just that last five metres cost me," Aitchison told TVNZ after the race.

She added that the pair had gone "neck and neck .... down the front straight" and she was "super happy for her" rival.

The final was, as expected, a duel between Shi and Aitchison from the start. As they hit the straight it looked like the Kiwi might be closing on her Chinese rival, but Shi managed to hold her off.

The two will likely meet again when the 100m T36 gets underway, with the heats taking place on Wednesday. Shi comes into that race as the defending champion as well, after a world-record time of 13.61sec in the Tokyo final.