Paralympics: Amalia Pérez wins her seventh medal in a row

Mexican Amalia Pérez made history again after winning her seventh consecutive Paralympic medal, after winning bronze yesterday in the 61-kilogram category of parapowerlifting at Paris 2024.

The tricolor weightlifter, who won gold in Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, as well as silver in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, took third place on the podium after lifting 130 kilograms in her second attempt, in what was her seventh consecutive participation in a Paralympic event.

On this occasion, the gold medal went to Nigerian Mark Onyinyechi, who set a world record with 150 kilograms, while the silver went to China’s Jianjin Cui, who totaled 140.

“This medal means a lot to me, it was my seventh time competing in the Paralympic Games. Obviously, Paralympic sport has grown, and today I faced two great warriors, with whom I have always competed, but this time their level was a thousand times better than mine.

I wanted to be on the podium, I wanted to confirm my title and reach another mark, I wanted to continue making history, mainly for my country, although it was also a personal challenge, I gave it my all and of course I wanted more, but that’s sport, I’m leaving happy.said the 47-year-old parathlete via video conference from Paris.

She also acknowledged that she had planned to say goodbye to the summer competitions at the French event; however, she indicated that winning this seventh medal motivates her to reach Los Angeles in 2028.

I had assumed that if I didn’t finish on the podium, it was time for me to retire. With these new marks and the work that has been done in the women’s category, there was a moment when I didn’t see myself in the medal table, but with one more medal and still being among the best, Amalia is here for a while. I hope to make it to the next Paralympic Games.said the weightlifter, who also warned that Mexican sport, both conventional and adapted needs restructuringwhich is why he urged that it be carried out in the next six-year term.

In addition to Pérez’s medal, the tricolor delegation won two more medals yesterday at the Paris 2024 Games, one silver and one bronze, bringing the total to 15 and placing 28th in the medal table.

Para-athlete Edgar Fuentes won silver in the F54 javelin throw final, with a record of 30.53 metres, his best mark of the season.

Gold went to Ivan Revenko, from the neutral athletes team, with 30.77, while bronze went to Greek Manolis Stefanoudakis, with 30.13.

We are very happy with the result. We wanted gold, but I think we far exceeded expectations. It was a very difficult competition because there were rivals we didn’t know. However, we improved our time and we are very happy.also pointed out from Paris the thrower, who won the gold medal at the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games, as well as at the Kobe 2024 World Championships, where he had a mark of 30.25 meters, thus achieving a record for the competition.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old para-swimmer Jesús Alberto Gutiérrez won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle final, S6 classification, with a time of 5:07.00 minutes.

Brazilian Henrique Glock took gold with a time of 4:49.55, and Italian Antonio Fantin took silver with a time of 4:49.99.

In this same test, Jesús’ brother, Raúl Gutiérrez, competed and finished in sixth position, with 5:22.41 minutes.

In turn, para-swimmer Nely Miranda finished in fifth place in the 50-meter freestyle S4 final, while the two-time Paris 2024 medalist, Ángel Camacho, finished in fifth position in the same event, but in the men’s category, so he could not get his third medal in this Paralympic event.