Paris. Track cyclist Caroline Groot of the Netherlands won the first gold medal of the Paralympics and Chinese athletes claimed four on the first day of competition on Thursday.
Groot won the 500-metre time trial final in track cycling in 35.390 seconds, the first medal event of the Games. French cyclist Marie Patouillet (C5) took silver for France’s first medal of the Games, and Canadian Kate O’Brien (C4) took bronze.
Chinese athletes followed Groot’s feat on the track with Li Zhangyu winning the men’s C1 3000m individual pursuit ahead of compatriot Weicong Liang, and Xiaomei Wang winning the women’s C1-3 3000m individual pursuit.
Swimming produced two more golds for China, with Yuyan Jiang winning the women’s 50m freestyle in the S6 classification and Yi Chen winning the S10 race.
Afghan Paralympic taekwondo athlete Zakia Khudadadi won the refugee team’s first medal at a Paralympic Games when her opponent, Morocco’s Naoual Laarif, withdrew before their bronze contest.
Ugo Didier delighted the home fans by defeating the race favourites to win the 400m freestyle S9 final and claim France’s first gold medal.
Italy’s Simone Barlaam and Australia’s Brenden Hall won silver and bronze respectively.
Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly won the women’s race.
Kamil Otowski won the men’s 100m backstroke S1 for Poland, while Brazil’s Gabriel Araújo won the S2 classification of the race for Brazil.
Swimmer Elizabeth Marks won the United States’ first medal: silver in the 50m freestyle S6.
Jiang Yuyan of China won gold.
Concerns about times in the shallower pool at La Defense Arena at the Olympics have been put to rest at the Paralympics.
After competing in the 100m butterfly for S14, swimmers have indicated that they do not believe the depth of the pool makes a difference.
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– 2024-09-03 06:50:57
