Sports
GREAT Britain reached 100 medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympics as wheelchair tennis stars Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid completed a career ‘Golden Slam’ in the men’s doubles to help the team surpass the number of golds achieved at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
GB won six golds among 16 medals on Friday as they reached their Games target of 100-140 medals, set by UK Sport, with two days of competition still to come.
Hewett, who will aim to complete a career Golden Slam in the singles on Saturday, and team-mate Reid beat Japan’s Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki at Roland Garros.
Sarah Storey, 46, won the women’s C4-5 road race to claim her 19th career Paralympic gold before Sophie Unwin, 30, won her fourth medal of the Games in the B women’s road race, alongside pilot Jenny Holl.
Poppy Maskill, 19, claimed her third gold in the pool by winning the women’s S14 100m backstroke, wheelchair fencer Dimitri Coutya clinched the men’s epee B title, and in the Para-athletics Ben Sandilands won men’s T20 1500m gold.
Great Britain won 41 golds among 124 medals in Tokyo, and it is that overall total which they will now target over the closing weekend in the French capital – beginning with an action-packed Saturday featuring 75 gold medal events.
Elsewhere on Friday, Para-table tennis players Robert Davies (men’s MS1)and Will Bayley (men’s MS7) both won silver medals, as did wheelchair fencer Piers Gilliver in the men’s epee A category.
At the Stade de France, Marcus Perrineau-Daley won silver in the men’s T52 100m final.
There was silver for GB’s 4x100m universal relay quartet of Zac Shaw, Ali Smith, Jonnie Peacock and Samantha Kinghorn, while Hollie Arnold took bronze in the women’s F46 javelin.
There were bronze medals for swimmers Maisie Summers-Newton (women’s S6 400m freestyle), Mark Tompsett (men’s S14 100m backstroke) and Olivia Newman-Baronius (women’s S14 100m), with cyclists Lora Fachie and pilot Corrine Hall also making the podium in the women’s B road race.
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Hewett and Reid end wait for ‘dream’ gold
Hewett and Reid lost the gold medal match at both the Rio and Tokyo Paralympics, but they finally have the one prize which had evaded them.
After a competitive opening set, the Britons – who have won 21 Grand Slam titles together in doubles, including all three played this year – raced through the second to seal a 6-2 6-1 victory.
The joy and relief was evident as they celebrated together, although Hewett’s attention must now turn to ending his wait for singles success against Oda, eight years after losing to Reid in the Rio final.
“We felt confident going into this week but there is always a doubt because of those two losses at the Paralympics. We’ve just squashed that and played our brand of tennis. Thankfully, this time, we’re not crying on each other’s shoulders,” said Hewett.
“We’ve wanted this title for a very long time. We’ve been on such a journey to get here. It’s hard to put in words the last few months, it’s the stuff of dreams.”
Reid added: “We finally did it, it’s ours. It feels amazing. We’ve been desperate this for a long time, we’ve come close twice and felt that heartbreak and pain.
“Those matches have been some of the toughest moments of my career so sit here with the gold around our necks is one of the best feelings.”
Maskill makes it a treble in the pool
Maskill’s outstanding Games debut reached new heights on Friday as the British teenager won her third gold – the most of any ParalympicsGB athlete in Paris.
A seven-time World Championship medallist, the S14 100m backstroke title was Maskill’s fifth medal of the Games following golds in the 100m S14 butterfly and the mixed 4x100m S14 freestyle relay, plus silvers in the 200m freestyle S14 and the 200m individual medley S14.
Maskill trailed Valeriia Shabalina at halfway but fought back to win in a time of one minute 5.74 seconds, as fellow Briton Newman-Baronius took bronze.
“I’m obviously happy with my medals as they are a great achievement but I’m slightly disappointed in my time because I know I can be better,” Maskill said.
“It’s really cool to have five medals and the most of any ParalympicsGB athlete so far here [now level with Sammi Kinghorn]. It feels great.”
Great Britain have won 30 medals in the pool before the last day of action at La Defense Arena – their highest in any sport in Paris.
Record-breaking Storey won’t rule out LA 2028
Two days after winning her 18th Paralympic gold medal in the women’s C5 time trial, Storey extended her British record haul to 19 in the road race.
With just one kilometre to go, Storey appeared destined for silver but fought back to deny France’s Heidi Gaugain – 27 years the Briton’s junior – by less than a second to claim a remarkable 30th career Paralympic medal.
Asked whether she could continue until the Los Angeles 2028 Games, Storey, only the fourth Paralympian to reach 19 gold medals, said: “Who knows. I need to enjoy this first. Never say never to anything.
“This just needs to sink in because it was one of the most exciting races that we’ve had and from the word go it was full gas.”
Unwin and Holl claimed their second gold in five days during the women’s B road race, beating Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and pilot Linda Kelly in a sprint finish.
The winning margin was three seconds, while British team-mates Fachie and Hall finished 95 seconds later for bronze.
Coutya gold ensures GB eclipse Tokyo
Coutya had the honour of winning his nation’s 42nd gold medal in Paris to take ParalympicsGB beyond their total of 41 in Tokyo.
The 26-year-old won his second wheelchair fencing gold – and third medal – of the Games in the men’s epee B category at the Grand Palais, defeating Thailand’s Visit Kingmanaw 15-10 to add to his foil title.
On taking GB past their Tokyo tally, Coutya said: “I had no idea and I’m very proud to have been able to do that.
“Competing for ParalympicsGB is always such an honour and a privilege and the ethos they provide really helped push me this week.”
Team-mate Gilliver, who three years ago became Britain’s first gold medallist in the sport in 33 years, was unable to defend his epee A title, losing 15-12 to China’s Sun Gang.
However, the 29-year-old’s third silver of the Games was the 100th medal won by GB in Paris, ensuring they have reached their target before the final weekend.
Sandilands makes record-breaking debut
Sandilands was the first member of ParalympicsGB to claim a medal on day nine in Paris, breaking the world record as he won the 1500m title by more than four seconds.
Sandilands, 21, clocked three minutes 45.40 seconds to beat the old mark held by American Mikey Brannigan by 0.10secs and earn GB’s fifth Para-athletics gold.
“It’s an amazing feeling. The timing has to be perfect and I went for it, and the world record means a lot. It’s incredible,” Sandilands said.
Fellow Paralympic debutant Perrineau-Daley said he believes he is “destined for gold” after the 35-year-old finished runner-up to Belgian 100m world record holder Maxime Carabin.
Kinghorn’s sensational Games continued as the 28-year-old won her fifth medal as part of GB’s relay team, adding a fourth silver to T53 100m gold.
Elsewhere, transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo failed to reach the final of the T12 200m after finishing third in her semi-final on Friday. On Monday, the 51-year-old Italian failed to reach the T12 400m final after finishing third in her semi-final.
– BBCSport
A.I
Sept. 7, 2024
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